Furtherance
by jinx7985
Summary: ATF. Team Seven executes a raid on a moonshiner. Bad things happen.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Something a little different this time. I will be posting in parts, but the whole story is done. I am just catching up on the edits. ;)

The young eagle beat its wings twice, then coasted fluidly on the breeze, eyes searching its surroundings. It soared high over the treetops, surveying the ponds and forest below. Even though it was young and still carried much of the brown and white plumage of youth, it was in its third year of life. Its wings beat again, feather fingers reaching out to the clear sky, threatening to tickle the wisps of clouds.

The bird's sharp eyes saw light glint off of some unknown object below, and with a gentle tip of an outstretched wing, its course altered to investigate. Flying over the clearing once, searching the scene below, it looked for the best vantage point: one where it could see and not be seen.

The loudness and the shouting should have driven it away, and had it been any other bird it would have taken flight away from the smell of gunpowder and the noise. But it was an opportunistic creature; one who could use its youthful plumage to hide amongst the canopy and observe the scene. It also was not above scavenging a free meal, should the opportunity present itself.

Down below, laying flat on his back and looking up at the sky, Ezra couldn't help but think what a nice day it was. The sky was blue and the clouds were fluffy and bright white. The green treetops swayed in the gentle breeze of the day, carrying with it a sweet smell of the summer that would be here in only a few months. Had he been afforded the opportunity, he would have taken a deep breath, smelling, _tasting_ the sweetness of the air. This was the type of day that was best spent laying around in a hammock, or sprawled out in the cool grass… just enjoying life.

So how did the day go to hell so fast?

He rolled his head and looked towards Buck. He was less than ten feet away from him, looking at him worriedly. Hell, it might as well have been a mile. He tried to move, resulting in a pain racing through his chest and fire erupting from his leg.

_Jesus, I'm gonna die here_.

7777777

_EARLIER_….

"Hey Ezra…"

Ezra glanced at his passenger, his eyes shooting daggers.

Buck stared back unflinchingly, a huge shit-eating grin on his face that made the ends of his mustache twitch. When he got no answer, he started to croon, "I'll…"

"Kill you if you sing that song again…"

"…Trade…"

"I mean it Buck."

"…You…"

"Last chance."

For a split second, it looked like the warning was going to be heeded. Buck squared around in his seat and stared out the window, seemingly deflated. He sighed audibly. Then, as loud as he could without actually shouting, started singing again. "Twenty margaritas for your moonshine… Cuz I like to have a party all the time… OW!" Buck's singing was interrupted as the southerner smacked him on the arm.

"Next time it will be a bullet, and most likely a gut shot." Ezra punctuated his threat with an unwavering finger pointed directly in Buck's face. His eyes, however, relayed that it was in fact an empty threat at best. Ezra was just in no mood to be on the receiving end of this game. Buck had been singing that song ever since Chris had told them that this raid was on a moonshiner. The first time, the song had been funny because it had irritated Chris. The second time, it was still funny, because it still irritated Chris. This latest bellowing had been number twenty three. Twenty three, and that was just today. Ezra had been counting. He and Buck were partnered up for this raid, driving to the rendezvous point together in one of the bureau cars. On chorus number ten of today's performance, Ezra had removed the tape from the car's player and flung it out the window. Buck barely batted an eyelash. And worst of all, he continued to sing.

"Have I told you that you're no fun?" Buck asked around a smirk, rubbing his arm for good measure.

"Seven times so far today," Ezra deadpanned. "Twice in the past," Ezra looked at his watch, "ten minutes."

"Just so long as it's covered then," Buck asked, trying valiantly to stifle a smile.

Ezra had to concede that it wasn't entirely Buck's fault… the excitement that the explosives expert must be feeling was probably killing him. Today, if all went right and they found the huge still rumored to be running at this location, Buck might be allowed to blow it up. It would be Chris's call at the scene whether or not to dismantle the still versus blowing it up, but that didn't stop Buck from almost bouncing in place. Ezra thought the look on the big man's face was akin to a kid on Christmas morning. He couldn't help but smile along with him.

7777777

"Come on baby, we have to go," Jenna instructed her daughter, rushing to pack the few things they were taking with them. "Jerry isn't very happy with us right now…"

Jerry Tripp was always a decent man. He was a fair man, a good uncle, and a hell of a moonshiner. Recently though, since the death of his only brother Hank, he had become a different man. Scary, deranged even. He had taken to stockpiling weapons on their little compound. Hank's death hadn't been anyone's fault really, just an accident. One of the larger stills had tipped and landed on Hank, causing serious internal damage. He died on the way to the hospital. Jerry had told the authorities that it had been a farming accident, which had been believable enough.

Jenna had been married to Hank for seven years. Hank's first wife, Martha, had died of cancer two years after their daughter Shannon had been born. Hank had sought comfort in the arms of another woman, Jenna, and the two fell in love with each other and were married a year later. Jenna had always been 'Mom' to Shan, even though it wasn't a true blood relation.

After Hank had been buried, Jenna had become more and more uncomfortable with Jerry's new erratic behavior. Especially the gun hoarding. What was he up to? Brewing hooch was one thing, but guns? That put things in a whole other realm. Their little compound, which had been so peaceful and quaint, was now more militia-like than ever, and Jenna had decided it had to stop. She had informed the ATF in the hopes of alerting them to the operation, and hoping to bring about the end of the gun stockpiling. This also meant pulling the plug on the hooch, but maybe it was time.

The ATF had planned the raid for this week, hoping to catch Jerry Tripp with all of his illegal toys red handed. As an informant, Jenna was made aware of the date of the raid so she could get her daughter out of harm's way. It had been a part of the deal she had made when giving the information to the ATF. Jerry had been suspicious of everything since Hank's death, since the beginning of his foray into the arms market. Jenna had caught his attention several times with her actions, and he had taken to having someone keeping an eye on her at all times.

Jenna knew that Jerry suspected something of her. That's why she was determined to be gone by the time the ATF got here. She was supposed to wait for the ATF raid and be "arrested" like the other people on the compound, but she was afraid to wait any longer. She would take Shan and start a new life. She hoped to be on the road in less than a half hour, never to see this place again.

Hearing footsteps on the outside porch leading up to her cabin, Jenna grabbed Shan and hid her under the bed. "Shannon honey, I need you to be as quiet as possible. Don't come out for anything, do you understand me? You have to be as quiet as a mouse."

Scared blue eyes looked back at her mom. "Ok." Her tiny voice quivered as someone knocked harshly on the door.

"Be my good girl. I love you so much." Jenna kissed her daughter's head and helped her wiggle under the bed and out of sight, and she replaced the bedskirt hiding all traces of the child.

"Jenna, open this damn door or I'll break it down!" Jerry's voice boomed through the door.

Jenna went t the door and opened it, meeting the angry stare or her brother in law. With him was Darren, or was it Darryl? There were several new faces at the compound as of late.

"Sorry Jerry, I was in the other room."

Jerry slowly brushed past her and looked around the room. He noticed the bag sitting on the bed with things packed hastily within it. Darryl followed him, ushering Jenna back into the tiny cabin and closing the door behind him.

"Planning on a trip, Jenna?"

"I thought Shan and I would go away for a few days. She hasn't been doing so well since Hank's death," Jenna half lied. While it was true that Shan had almost stopped talking since her father's death, and Jenna knew that the girl wasn't doing well, she was planning on never returning to this place.

Jerry nodded slowly as he continued his stroll around the room. "You know, funny thing Jenna. Darryl here has been keeping an eye on you for me."

Jenna turned defiant eyes on the man who leaned against the wall watching her every move. His dark eyes were almost black, and he grinned at her.

"He says," Jerry continued, pointing at his brother's wife, "that you've been making a lot of phone calls as of late. I know you don't have any family. Who you been chatting with?"

"A friend," she said worriedly.

"See, I also know you don't have many friends. Hell, I bet you don't have any. I only ever see you with Shannon." He looked around the room again. "Where is that niece of mine? I would like to see her."

"She's not here. She's outside somewhere."

"I see," he said calmly. He smiled as he walked slowly up to her. With a move quicker than anyone would give a man his age credit for, he grabbed Jenna's neck with both hands and slammed her up against the wall, dazing her. Jenna's hand instinctively went to her own throat to try to ward off the attack. Jerry applied pressure.

Her face a mask of panic, she mouthed 'Jerry' and 'No'.

He slammed her against the wall again. "Now, Jenna," he seethed, "who were you chatting with?"

He let up slightly on her throat so she could answer. "No one Jerry, I swear."

"You called 'no one' four times last week. How many this week Darryl?" he asked without breaking his gaze from Jenna's eyes.

"Three that I've seen," the man replied nonchalantly.

"That's seven phone calls to 'no one' Jenna. See why I'm having a hard time following this?"

A tear escaped the corner of Jenna's eye. She whispered "Please".

"Do you have a new little boyfriend, you little slut?" he asked in a menacing whisper. "I would be very upset if you did. My brother hasn't been dead a month."

"No!" she wanted to scream in his face, but it came out as a strangled rasp.

He slammed her against the wall again. "Don't lie to me!" he yelled in her face.

"It's nothing like that I swear!"

"Who's this 'no one' you're so incredibly chatty with?" he pushed as he squeezed her neck to make his point.

Tears streamed down her face as she tried to keep her composure. She was scared for herself, but also scared for her little girl hiding under the bed. Oh god! What would Jerry do to her if Jenna wasn't around? That thought panicked her more than the thought of her own imminent death at this man's hands.

A radio squelched, breaking the silence. "_Darryl, come in_."

Jerry looked at Darryl, who apologized for the disruption with his eyes. "Answer it," Jerry barked.

"Go for Darryl."

"_We got company coming. Unmarked suburbans and sedans._"

"Fuck," Darryl said to the room at large. He looked into Jerry's questioning eyes. Then he asked on the radio, "How long?"

"_Fifteen, twenty minutes tops_."

"You little bitch," Jerry seethed, blowing his angry breath in Jenna's face. "You ratted us out?" His hands began tightening.

Jenna shook her head No. She clawed at his bigger hands, trying to free them from her throat.

Jerry nodded at Darryl, who started barking orders into the radio.

"You FUCKING BITCH!!" Jerry squeezed for all his worth, while Jenna tried to kick and scratch him, trying to gain another breath. Jerry held her against the wall, watching as the blood vessels burst within her sclera and the soft brown eyes bulged from their sockets in shock and fear. Her red face twisted and contorted as her hands and feet made a last ditch effort to free herself from her attacker.

Jerry smiled as limp arms fell to her sides, twitching one last time. The life drained out of her eyes, and Jerry cast Jenna's body to the ground as though a rag doll. She landed face down, head turned away from the bed where her daughter still hid.

Leaving the cabin behind them, Darryl and Jerry started towards the main building of the compound, which at one time had been used as a meeting hall and place of worship, but now housed their small armory. Darryl continued to bark into the radio at anyone who was still listening.

7777777

"Did anyone else think that was a little easy?" Vin asked quietly as they congregated around their prisoners. "These people gave up awful easy." He gestured towards the group of people kneeling on the ground near the vehicles. They mainly looked like family people—fathers, mothers, some older children.

Chris met the sharpshooter's gaze, and glanced at the kneeling captives. "Maybe they weren't as militant as the information made it out to be."

"That's another thing Chris," Vin said as he came up close to the blond. In hushed tones, he asked, "Where's the woman?"

Chris's eyes jumped to the kneeling captives again. They had all been given a picture of the informant in the briefing, knowing that they would need to protect her and her daughter during the raid… that was the deal. "Maybe she took off."

Vin shook his head. "You know that ain't true."

"I know. Just hoping I guess."

"If she ain't here… what if they figured out what was up?"

"Jesus Vin. Then we could be in the middle of a war."

"She had said there were more men than this," he nodded to the captives, "and if they're as heavily armored as she said they were…" he let his comment hang.

Vin shrugged and walked away, leaving Chris to organize the next wave of searching. Although now, he had to add the instructions to be careful… not all of the hostiles were accounted for.

7777777

Buck and Ezra had branched off with other members of their search team, but as their search progressed they realized that there were many more buildings than the satellite photos had shown. Part of that could have been due to the extensive foliage of the trees blocking out a lot, but why didn't that woman let them know better? In fact, where was the woman? What was her name? Jen? Something like that. Hell, most of the reconnaissance had proved to be inadequate at best. The 'woods' were far more than that, consisting of more and more outbuildings as the search went on. They hadn't planned for such an extensive compound. Some of the buildings were only the size of a standard shed, while others were cabin size.

Two stills had been discovered so far and their locations reported. The woman had told them that there were booby traps and extra protection around the stills – things like bear traps and pits - which were almost impossible to see with the naked eye. They would deal with the stills later; they wouldn't be going anywhere. More backup was ordered as the scope of the operation grew, but in the meantime those already on scene had to continue the search. Jerry Tripp was still unaccounted for.

"Ezra?" Buck asked from beside him, eyes continuing to scan of the surroundings as they advanced.

Ezra nodded his head towards Buck in a manner that said _What_?

"This feel off to you?"

Ezra nodded, saying quietly so only Buck could hear, "Yeah."

"Me too. Like a bad horror movie or something… I keep waiting for someone to jump out and go 'Boo' or something."

Ezra absentmindedly nodded. Buck could tell that the Southerner was nervous.

With their search team number dwindling, another building came into sight. Cueing his mic, Buck spoke quietly, "Chris? You there?"

"_Go Buck_," came the static-filled reply.

"Another outbuilding. Looks like another residence."

"_Check it. Be careful_."

"Always am," he answered through a smile.

Ezra turned and snorted, cocking an eyebrow in disbelief.

"What?" Buck asked defensively.

"Always am?" Ezra parroted mockingly.

"Shut up Ezra."

"You're starting to sound like Vin," Ezra said as he smiled and waved on the last two members of their search party, signaling for them to continue on. Time was of the essence—they had to find Tripp before he managed to slip away.

He and Buck approached the outbuilding carefully.

Sliding up on either side of the door to the cabin, both men spoke with their hands. Ezra tried the door, finding it unlocked. He nodded at Buck, and on a count of three, they entered, Ezra going to the right and Buck to the left. Sweeping the small room with their weapons out in front of them, they stepped over and around the body laying face down on the floor. Buck went into the adjoining room while Ezra checked the sole closet of the dwelling. After a moment, Buck re-entered the main room, shaking his head 'no'.

Ezra squatted down next to the body on the floor, feeling for a pulse but not looking to see the face of the woman. He met Buck's sad eyes and shook his head. "She's gone."

Buck cued his comm as Ezra stood back up. "Chris?" he asked.

Crackling static answered him.

"I got nothing," he said to the southerner. "You?"

Ezra cued his comm and tried to raise their leader. "Chris? You there?" He was met with the same static and shook his head at Buck.

"Dammit."

"It's God's country," Ezra supplied.

Buck squatted down next to the body on the floor. Lying as it was, it was impossible to see her face. Buck tenderly turned her to her back, noticing the dark bruising around her neck and the set of her eyes, staring at nothing in a mask of horror and fear. He gently shut her eyes and stroked his face.

Ezra walked the distance to the bag on the bed and looked inside, then paced back towards the door. Something was eating at him. He was checking out the nearby window when he turned to face Buck, and stopped dead in his tracks as he looked at the woman's face.

Buck had watched him walk back and forth, and now stared at the Southerner, a question on his face. "What's the matter?"

"Damn. Buck, it's the woman," he said and instantly brought his gun up from his side, turning towards the door like he expected someone to come marching through it at that exact moment.

"What?" Buck asked as he looked down on the body.

"The informant," Ezra said over his shoulder, still on alert.

Buck, so caring in nature, hadn't seen it at first. All he saw was a woman who had met her death in an untimely manner, and he mourned for her. _But if this were her_… "Fuck!" Realization dawned on him. If this woman was the informant, then they knew. _They fucking knew_! _So why did Tripp's people give up so easy? Why kill her?_

"Buck, the people who gave up weren't Tripp's guys," the Southerner said. "Tripp and whoever else are still out there. We got the innocents."

Buck shot to his feet and tried his comm again. "Chris. Dammit!"

"Try outside. Maybe we'll get lucky and these damn things will work."

"Right." Buck started for the door, but both he and Ezra spun on their feet and took aim back towards the body when they heard a scraping sound like someone sliding on the wood floor.

Both men looked down their sights at the cause of the noise.

A small face peeked out from under the bed, hand snaking towards the still hand of the woman.

"Well," Ezra said, lowering his weapon first as he slowed his rapid heartbeat. "This just got a little more complicated."

77777777

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

Chris paced around the area of his make-shift command center.

"You're gonna walk a hole to China at that pace," Vin commented from where he was studying the maps of the property with JD. He didn't look up as he spoke.

"I hate not knowing exactly where everyone is."

Vin looked up from the maps and shrugged. "Not much you can do about it now, is there?"

"That's helpful," growled Chris.

Vin strode over to Chris, leaving JD to study the maps. JD had been beating himself up over the comm issue, trying everything he could think of to improve the signal strength, but the thick foliage and the lousy satellite positions left them more or less incommunicado.

"Hey," Vin said quietly when he reached Chris's side. "JD is beatin' himself up pretty bad over this. He had no idea that the woods were gonna cause this much interference."

"I'm not blaming him."

"He's not gonna see it that way. He knows he's the one we go to with these questions, and when he can't work miracles he feels like a failure."

Chris looked over to where JD was looking intently at the maps of the area.

"Stop wearin' a hole in the earth with your pacin'. Ain't nothin' you can do about it right now. 'Sides, I'm thinkin' Tripp fucked off. There ain't nothin' keeping him here if we're here. He's gone." Vin slapped him lightly on the shoulder as he went back to the maps.

_Hope so_, Chris thought.

As Vin approached, JD was drawing another square on the map.

"Damn Vin," he said quietly. "We got 37 outbuildings so far, five plus acres, and two still sites with the possibility of a third." He looked up at the tracker's face. "This guy's got a fucking compound." He threw the marker he was using down disgustedly.

"Ain't your fault JD. None of us knew."

JD looked at Vin disbelievingly. "Yeah, but I'm _supposed_ to know. That's what I do. I do all this techie shit," he waved his hands at the maps, "satellite images and whatevah."

Vin chuckled slightly. JD's accent would slip when he was really disturbed about something. Or angry. _Kind of like Ezra_, he mused.

"Vin's right, JD," Chris said as he came up to the pair.

"So fah, I've fucked up satellite and comms. Battin' a thousand right now."

"We're getting spotty transmissions off the comms though. That's something," Chris said, placating.

JD sighed. "I boosted the signal as much as possible. Bottom line is, if we're in close proximity to each other, the comms should work. Or if we're in an open area, transmissions should go through like they're supposed to."

"So we'll keep trying," said Vin. Chris nodded his head once in agreement.

JD's brow furrowed for a second, then his eyes lit up with an idea. "You know guys, the same is true for the sat phones."

"What?" asked Chris.

JD moved to get something out of a nearby bag. "Satellite phones. Josiah and Buck carry them."

"Why just them?" asked the blond.

"They're bigger, and a little bulky. Ezra thought they were 'cumbersome' and Nathan says he 'carries too much shit already'." He pulled the phone out of the bag and showed it to the other two. "Plus, we're all usually paired off with someone who is carrying them. And they're crazy expensive. I could only get three for the team."

"Who has the third?" Chris asked.

"Me," said Vin.

"So whose is that?" Chris asked as he pointed to the phone JD had out and was dialing.

"Mine," Vin said. At Chris's questioning look, he elaborated. "It's big and bulky and I carry too much shit already," he said with a grin.

"You're all a bunch of smartasses," he grumbled.

"Josiah, you hear me?" JD talked into the phone. His face lit up when he got some answer. "Where are you?" he asked as he looked at one of the maps. "Can you make your way back to base? Twenty minutes?" he looked at his watch. "All right." And he hung up the phone.

"On their way back?" Chris asked unnecessarily.

"Yeah. Said they were fine. They're near one of the ponds on the property, so the signal was strong. Said everything was fine." There was relief in JD's voice, obviously feeling like he actually did something useful in his area of expertise.

"Good work," Chris said to him. He turned away and resumed his pacing.

Vin nodded at JD, then watched Chris's retreating back.

"I do something wrong?" JD asked, already dialing Buck's sat phone.

"Nah, kid. He won't return to his usual charming self till we're all here for him to glare at."

JD nodded, seeming to accept that answer. He then took the phone away from his ear. "Won't go through," he said apologetically. "I'll keep trying."

"We'll keep trying the comms."

7777777

Shannon walked between the two men she didn't know. She held fast to the taller one's hand and did her best to keep up to their stride.

Ezra tried his comm again. "Chris? You hear me?"

Static answered him again. He blew out a frustrating breath, shaking his head at Buck.

Shannon tripped over an exposed root, almost stumbling to the ground. Buck's grip tightened on her small hand and he kept her from falling. He stopped and squatted down to face her as she started to sniffle. "Hey, hey, now don't cry." He put his hand under her chin and brought her face up to meet his. "Ol' Buck and Ez here will take care of you," he soothed.

Ezra looked down on the child, then scanned the area around them. He rested his hand on her soft curls, offering what comfort he could to the child. It had been tricky, convincing the girl to leave her mother's body. Ezra had been instrumental in proving to the girl that they were the good guys. And Shannon had taken a liking to Buck and his gentle ways. In the end, there had been tears shed when Buck picked the girl up and carried her from the cabin after Ezra had covered Jenna with a ratty blanket he found in the closet.

Shannon looked into Buck's gentle eyes as he kept his hand on her chin, nodded and tried to stop crying. Buck took her into a hug and rubbed circles on her back. Ezra continued to scan the area, not liking the feeling he was getting in the pit of his stomach. He tried to shake it off, attributing it to the adrenaline of the past few hours. Blowing out a breath to try to settle his nerves, he almost physically jumped when his earpiece crackled and he heard the static-laced voice of Chris Larabee.

"Chris?" he tried into his own comm. Buck looked up at him as he spoke, still holding the little girl.

"_Ez…a? T…y sat… pho…"_

"Chris?" he tried again.

"What did he say?" asked Buck, getting to his feet.

Ezra stood, brow furrowed, trying to decipher what he had heard. Then it came to him. "Buck, you have your satellite phone?"

Buck reached into his vest and pulled out the sat phone, dialing Vin's sat phone immediately, knowing the two were together. "Chris? You there?" Buck looked at Ezra, his eyes conveying that someone was there, but that it was hard to hear. "Hold on Chris, let me see if I can get a stronger signal." Buck started walking around in a random pattern, trying to get the spotty signal to come in for even a brief moment.

Ezra squatted down and made eye contact with Shannon. "Don't worry little one. We'll be out of here soon." He smiled at her, hoping to alleviate her fears. When she smiled slightly at him, he gently touched her nose with his thumb, and her small smile grew less tentative. Looking over to his partner, Ezra realized Buck was going to have to continue moving around to get the signal to come in. "Let's keep Mr. Wilmington close by, shall we?" he asked the little girl. She nodded at him.

Standing, Ezra took the little girl's hand and they walked over towards where Buck was standing.

"Ok Chris, we're working our way back to you now. Should be about a half hour, I think," Buck said into the phone. He looked at Ezra as he approached with Shannon, her hand tightly enclosed in the Southerner's.

Ezra couldn't help it, he felt like they were being watched. He continued to scan the area, his left hand full of little fingers, and his right hand resting on his holstered sidearm. Something wasn't right. He found himself drawing his gun slowly from its holster, the hair on the back of his neck prickling and his heart starting to speed up.

"Buck," he said, garnering the ladies' man's attention. Buck looked at him, still with the sat phone to his ear. He quirked his head slightly once, asking what was up.

"Something's wrong," Ezra said.

"Just hold on a sec Chris," Buck said into the phone. "What do you mean?" he asked Ezra.

"Just…" He let go of Shannon's hand and turned around completely, bringing his gun up to bear, looking for a target. _Fuck_! "No birds," he hissed urgently. There was no sound around them. Nothing. As though a predator was in the area, and it wasn't them. He spun back to face Buck. "Bu-"

Ezra lurched forward, falling to the ground as a bullet slammed into his vest from behind him. Reaching up, he pushed Shannon towards Buck, "Get her!" he yelled.

"Ezra!" Buck caught the girl being shoved towards him, pulling her safely behind him. The sat phone flew from his hands and hit the ground; the sound of squawking coming from the earpiece.

"The girl!" Ezra yelled at Buck as he got to his knees in a three point crouch, turning slowly to try and locate the threat. Buck shuffled backwards, protecting the girl with his stance as he hurried her towards a larger tree nearby.

Ezra stayed in a three point crouch and he fired indiscriminately in the direction he thought the shot had come from. _Hell, he hadn't even heard it!_ Another bullet slammed into his chest, knocking him back down.

"Ezra!" Buck moved to break cover to get to the downed agent.

"It's in the vest!" he shouted as he rolled to his stomach and attempted to make his way to cover. "The vest!"

Shielding the crying girl form with his mass, Buck sandwiched her between himself and the tree. He looked over to see Ezra, now trying to find cover in the small clearing behind a too-small rotting log. That would never do.

Ezra tried to catch his breath as he crawled in the long grass towards the log. _Shit, he had been standing right next to it when this all started, why did it seem so far away now?_ Getting his shoulders against the decaying wood, he tried to take a deep breath, but was rewarded with searing agony in his chest. Dammit! He'd been shot, and now he lay in a very vulnerable position. He chanced a look over the log and was rewarded with a bullet slamming into the wood so close to him that it sent splinters into his face. Shaking off the debris, he raised his hand to his chest where he had been shot. Well, at least he hadn't been lying when he told Buck the vest got it. Thank God for Kevlar. But good lord it hurt. He coughed once, groaned loudly and resumed breathing shallowly.

"EZRA! Ezra answer me!" Buck yelled.

He hadn't heard Buck calling his name frantically nearby.

"Buck!" he replied as loud as he could manage with his damaged torso.

Ezra could almost hear the sigh of relief in Buck's voice. "Ezra, get your ass over here! I'll cover you!"

_Good idea_, he thought. _Too bad I can't even see straight right now._

"Buck! Go! Get her away!" could the pain in his chest was starting to flare, making it difficult to shout.

He was rewarded with two cracking gunshots that reverberated throughout the clearing. The two bullets embedded themselves in the tree Buck was using as cover. The tall agent pulled in behind the large pine tree and covered the now wailing girl.

Ezra reacted without thinking, coming up and breaking cover to return fire. He was immediately rewarded with a bullet to the thigh and another to the vest. He fell backwards with a yell of pain.

"Ezra!" Buck fired indiscriminately at their unknown attacker.

Laying flat on his back and looking up at the sky, Ezra couldn't help but think what a nice day it was. The sky was blue and the clouds were fluffy and bright white. How did the day go to hell so fast? He rolled his head and looked towards Buck. He was less than ten feet away from him. It might as well have been a mile. He tried to move, and pain raced through his chest and fire erupted from his leg. _Jesus, I'm gonna die here_.

"Ezra! Get up and get your ass behind that tree!" Buck screamed at him.

Ezra rolled his head the other way, and saw the tree that was now only a matter of feet to his left. Slowly, his muddled mind relented and in an act of self-preservation, he made himself move towards the tree. It was slow and painful, and his progress was highlighted with covering gunfire from Buck and answering shots from their assailants. With Buck drawing most of the fire, Ezra managed to get himself behind the wide pine trunk and into a semi-sitting position. He tried to take cleansing breaths to clear his mind, to understand what was going on and what had to be done.

"Ezra!" Buck hollered.

Ezra looked down at his bleeding thigh, and absentmindedly thought someone should do something about that, followed by the realization that: _Fuck! I'm bleeding_! Breathing shallowly, he placed his gun on the ground and undid his leather belt. Working it through his belt loops gingerly, he clenched his jaw as his chest was wracked with lancing pain. Once the leather was free of his pants, he gingerly worked it around his thigh above the wound and pulled it as tight as he could. He was relieved when he looked at the wound and saw that it wasn't bleeding profusely, hopefully meaning that he hadn't hit an artery. After he finished securing the belt, Ezra picked up his gun; his hands slick with sweat and blood.

He cradled the gun in his lap and leaned his head back against the tree. "Buck?" he shouted across the small clearing.

"Ezra! You ok?"

The southerner chuckled to himself. _No, definitely not ok_. "Buck, you need to go!"

"What?" Buck shouted.

_Aw hell. This is really going to hurt_. Ezra took a deep breath, swallowing back the groan as he readied himself to yell. Then he had a thought. Cueing his comm, he signaled for Buck.

"_Ez_," Buck's voice came through his earpiece, along with the static they had been encountering all afternoon.

_Figures the fucking things would work now_. "Buck," Ezra said into his comm, "you need to go."

"I'm not leaving you here!"

Ezra smiled across the clearing. "I'm not asking you to. But you need to take that young lady and bring help."

Buck looked to the small child he was sheltering, then back across the clearing at the Southerner. "Ezra, I…"

"Throw me your extra clip. I'll be fine. You won't be gone long." _I hope_.

Buck looked torn.

"Buck, I'm bleeding and will slow you down. Now is not the time for arguments." As if to punctuate Ezra's command, a bullet from their attackers slammed in to the tree near Buck's head.

This seemed to work, as Buck reached into his vest, palming one of his extra clips of ammo and lofting it across to the southerner. It landed right next to his wounded thigh.

Ezra grabbed it and held it up to his friend, showing he had it. "Now please," he said. "Go." Ezra switched out the clip on his gun, chambered the first round, and took as deep a breath as his battered body would allow.

Buck held his friend's gaze for a moment before squatting down to come eye to eye with the little girl. "Hey gorgeous, I'm gonna pick you up, and there's gonna be some more noise, but we're gonna get out of here. Ok?" He smiled at her, hoping to keep her calm. The little girl looked at him with wide, terrified eyes. She had placed her hands over her ears when the shooting had started. She looked into Buck's eyes and reached out, latching on to his neck. Buck picked her up, kissing her temple, and saying a silent prayer. He looked across the clearing at his partner.

Ezra nodded, licking his dry lips and sending up a prayer of his own.

On a silent count of three, Ezra rolled to his left, coming free of the cover and started shooting in a spraying pattern from left to right as Buck took off running deeper into the trees, the little girl's arms and legs wrapped around him in terror.

Ezra's first clip emptied, and he reached to reload. He slammed the clip home and brought his weapon up to fire in another sweeping pattern. An explosion in the bark near his face blinded him momentarily.

Rolling behind the cover of the tree, he reached up and cleared the debris from his eyes. By the time his hand was clear of his face, he heard the tell tale click of a revolver too close to him. He looked up into the barrel of a gun, then past the sights to the crazy eyes of none other than Jerry Tripp.

Tripp reached down and took the gun from Ezra's hands and grabbed the agent by the collar of his vest, leaning him up against the tree he had been using for cover just moments ago.

Ezra clenched his eyes shut and ground his teeth together to suppress the moan of pain he wanted to let fly.

Panting heavily, Ezra opened his eyes and met Tripp's. Tripp panted as well, and held his left arm to his chest. At least they had gotten him once.

A sickening grin came to Tripp's face as he sneered down at the agent. "Where's my niece?"

Ezra looked at the crazed man, his own anger burning in that emerald gaze.

"What, you want another one?" he said, shaking his gun in Ezra's face. "You tell me where she is you son of a bitch," Jerry calmly added.

Ezra breathed slowly and deliberately through his nose several times. "No," he said defiantly.

"Suit yourself," Tripp said as he squeezed the trigger.

A single gunshot rent the air.

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Buck ran like he was being chased by the hounds of hell. He expected to get a bullet to the back at any minute, but it never came.

After running for a few minutes, he pulled to an abrupt halt. _Was that a gunshot_?

"Oh god… Ezra…" Buck panted quietly as he walked in a circle, torn as to what to do. He looked at the weeping child in his arms, back to the woods he had come from, and then towards where he was running. He panted as his overtaxed lungs tried to equilibrate.

"Oh god, oh god, oh god… what…" he strangled the a sob in his throat. He put Shannon down for a moment, trying to get his bearings. He felt lightheaded.

He ran his hands through his hair repeatedly. He _can't be… he can't be dead. Oh god, what have I done? I shouldn't have left him. What was I thinking_? Tears escaped his eyes and rolled unchecked down his cheeks.

Soft sniffling brought his attention back to his situation at hand. He looked at the little girl, now crying in earnest. Buck sank to his knees and faced the crying child. "Hey, hey, it's ok. Remember, Buck's here. I'll take care of you sweetheart."

"But you're sad," she said through her sniffles.

"No honey, I'm not… I'm just worried," he placated as he stroked her hair away from her face.

"About the other man?"

Buck sighed. "Yeah baby. About him. He was hurt when we left."

"I think Uncle Jerry is mad at him."

"Uncle Jerry?" Buck asked. _Oh Jesus, Jerry Tripp is her uncle?_

"He got mad and hurt… mommy," she said and started crying again in earnest.

Buck pulled her close to him in a hug. He picked her up and let her keep crying. He started off towards where he hoped the rest of the team was, trying not to think about Ezra, but praying he was alive.

He found himself fighting tears of his own while Shannon cried for her mother. Rolling his eyes skyward, he sent up a hearty prayer and cued his comm. "Chris? Please be there buddy…"

Static answered him.

"Chris? Vin? JD? Boys, anybody? Please."

"-_uck_?" came a static-filled response.

Buck almost wept with relief. "JD, is that you boy?"

"_Damn Buck, where you guys been_?"

"JD, quit yammerin'. Where's Chris?"

"_Here Buck_," came Chris' voice. "_Where are you_?"

"God… Chris, I think they killed him."

Silence, then, "_What? What are you talking about Buck_?"

"We were ambushed Chris," he started. "Where are you?"

"_By the small pond on the property. Where are you? You all right Buck_?"

"I think I'm near there." He could hear voices up ahead.

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	3. Chapter 3

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Darryl came back into the clearing, breathing heavily. "Sorry Tripp, I lost him. He had too good a head start."

Jerry stood looking at the agent he had just fired upon, marveling at how close to his head the bullet had struck the tree. The agent still had his eyes screwed shut, no doubt expecting another shot. A powder burn marred his cheek.

"It's no bother," Tripp remarked over his shoulder. "This one," he motioned to the agent, "will be useful. They'll trade her for him. If they know what's good for them."

Ezra thought he was dead. He was just waiting for the white light and the sad display of what passed for his life to flash before his eyes. His face burned, his chest throbbed miserably, and his leg still felt like it was on fire.

_Well, if there's pain, I'm alive_.

He cracked open his eyes tentatively and met Jerry Tripp's crazed eyes looking almost _through_ him.

_For now_, he amended.

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Buck entered the clearing carrying a small child in his arms. Chris saw him first and started walking towards him. About ten feet away from him, the blond held out his hands in askance, "What's goin' on Buck?"

Closing the distance between the two of them, Buck said nothing, rubbing the back of the small child he still held tightly to. He continued to walk past Chris towards the other personnel on scene. He needed to give the child to someone who could care for her.

"Buck?" Chris asked as he followed the taller man. "Where's Ezra? What--?"

Wilmington turned and looked hard at Chris, warning him off of whatever he was going to say next. He never broke stride as he approached a nearby uniformed officer. "Nancy?" he asked tentatively. When the pretty brunette turned and looked at him, he adjusted the little girl in his arms so she could see the officer. Nancy smiled at the little girl. "Could you watch my friend Shannon here for me?" Buck asked in his nicest voice. When Nancy nodded and reached for the girl, Shannon clung harder to the mustached agent.

"Hey now darling," Buck soothed. "This is one of my nicest friends. Her name is Nancy." He craned his neck so that he met Shannon's eyes as he spoke. "She's gonna take care of you for a bit while I go back to work for a while. I'll be back later, I promise. Ok?" His sweet voice seemed to win the child over.

A small nod came from his bundle.

"Good girl," he said to her, and kissed the top of her head as he handed her off to the awaiting officer. "Thanks Nance," he added. Nancy smiled back at him with sympathetic eyes. Even though she didn't know the whole story about the child, she knew that the look Buck gave her was lined with hurt. She hummed gently at the girl in her arms as she walked away from the silently distraught man.

"Buck!" Chris snapped, having grown irritated at being blown off by his friend. He grabbed the taller man's arm and spun him around to face him.

Buck, turning with the spin, swung openly and hard, clipping Chris in the face and knocking him to the ground.

"You son of a bitch!" he yelled at his downed leader. Josiah and Vin grabbed him by his arms and held him in place, preventing a further attack on Larabee.

"What the fuck was that for?" Chris snapped. He was only slightly dazed, knowing that Buck could have hit him a lot harder if he wanted to.

"You knew that there were still people in the woods! You knew we didn't have enough people to do a proper search of the grounds! And you still told us to keep going!" Buck shrugged off the two men holding him as he watched Larabee get to his feet.

"What happened Buck?" Nathan asked calmly from beside Chris. "Where's Ezra?"

Buck blew a shuddering breath out through his nose as he tried to calm himself. "I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?" asked Nathan.

"For all I know he could be dead," he said as calm as possible.

"What?" chorused several voices at once.

Chris grabbed Buck's arm and started leading him towards one of the outbuildings nearby, the rest of the team following. Buck didn't fight him. He had nothing left to fight with. _I let him get killed…_

"Clear out!" Chris snapped at the handful of people who were currently in the cabin. He did not have to repeat himself.

He pushed Buck down onto one of the chairs and then seated himself directly opposite. Looking his old friend straight in the eye, he calmly said, "Start at the beginning."

Buck met his gaze, seeing the darkening start on the blond's face from where he had hit him. Knowing that any apology wouldn't be accepted, or even needed, between the two men, he didn't bother to try. He choked back a sigh as he ran a hand up his face and through his hair.

"We were ambushed. We had found the cabin. I called you about it," he nodded at Chris, "and we found the woman, the informant, in the cabin, dead."

"Shit," said Vin, standing near the open door.

Buck looked over to the Texan and just nodded. "We knew then that they were on to us. All of us; the raid, everything. I think that's why it went so smooth." He looked back at Chris. "We were about to leave the cabin when we found the little girl."

"Who is she?" asked Josiah.

"You're not gonna believe this. She's Jerry Tripp's niece."

"Oh man," said JD dejectedly. He had a sinking feeling where this tale was headed.

Buck went on to explain that Ezra had taken a couple of rounds in the vest, but managed to keep himself covered while providing cover for Buck and the girl. "Then Ezra took one in the leg. He managed to get himself behind a tree nearby, and he worked his belt around his leg."

"How bad was he hit?" asked Nathan.

"I have no idea. He was ten feet from me and I couldn't help him…" Buck stood up angrily, knocking over his chair as he did so. Turning agitatedly in a circle, his gaze fell on the discarded chair. He kicked it disgustedly.

"If you had tried Buck," said Chris calmly, "you would have been hit. And you both would have been killed."

"Ten fucking feet…" he muttered.

"None of us could have helped him in that situation," Vin said from his perch near the open door. He hadn't moved at all during the telling of the tale.

"What happened next?" prodded Chris, who still remained seated and looking intently at his oldest friend.

"He made me leave," Buck said sadly, looking up at the ceiling. Bringing his gaze back to the group, he added, "He asked for my extra clip and I tossed it to him. Once I knew he had it, I grabbed the girl and he covered our escape. I ran. Dammit, I can't believe I let him convince me to leave."

"Buck…" Chris started.

"I know!" he snapped. "I would have been killed or captured or whatever if I hadn't left. I know that! It's just hard to swallow right now." He paused and took a steadying breath, looking around at the walls of the cabin as he spoke. "I know he couldn't have moved quick enough on that leg…" _But I __**left**__ him_… After another calming breath, he turned and looked at Chris directly. "When…" he stuttered as he began. "When I was running, I heard a single gunshot. After all the others. Then I found you all." Buck hung his head after he finished.

Silence reigned as the implications sunk in.

"No," JD said decidedly. "No, he's fine," he said, shaking his head vehemently.

"JD…" Josiah started.

"NO!" he shouted.

Silence again filled the air.

"Larabee?" someone outside shouted.

Chris stood slowly from his seat and walked to the doorway where Vin was already peering out, a somber look in his blue eyes.

Detective Paul Murphy was waiting outside as Chris exited the cabin. "Murph?" Chris asked.

Murphy was coordinating the DPD side of this operation, and the guys of Team Seven got along with him very well. He had a sick sense of humor and was damn good at his job. "Chris, is Standish missing?" he asked worriedly as he stopped several feet in front of Larabee.

Chris looked at him skeptically. "Why?" There was a possibility that Murph had heard Buck's relaying of the events, but he doubted it.

"Some guy just surrendered himself to one of the search teams. Says his name is Darryl Wickwire."

"So?"

"He had Standish's badge, gun and name patch from his vest on him. Says he wants to talk to whoever is in charge."

"Where is he?"

"Search team's bringing him in. Should be here in five minutes."

"You find me as soon as he's here," Chris said as he started to turn away.

"Chris?"

Larabee turned and faced the detective again.

"Why do you think this guy has Standish's ID?"

Larabee sighed. "Cuz I think Jerry Tripp has Ezra."

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Ezra's head felt fuzzy and his chest burned with every breath he took. _Dammit I think my ribs are broken_, he thought. He lay on his side on the floor of what seemed to be a cave. _Funny_, he thought, _I don't remember seeing a cave on the maps anywhere._

Tripp was seated on the ground across the way from Standish, his arms resting on his knees as he lounged against the wall. He still held the revolver in his hand; the one that Ezra could still hear click in his mind when he closed his eyes. Leaning against the cave wall next to Tripp was a hunting rifle. That had to be what had delivered the slugs that now resided in his vest.

Surprisingly, Tripp had dressed his leg wound pretty well prior to their trek to this cave. Darryl had left and gone off into the woods to get the ATV where they had left it. While they awaited Darryl's return, Tripp, divested Standish of his handcuffs and put them to good use, binding the agent's hands behind his back. The pulling motion of his arms had Ezra grunting in agony, but once his hands were secure the pain became more bearable. Then Tripp had dragged him to his feet by his bound hands, causing Ezra to yelp at the pain in his chest and back, as well as the fire that erupted in his leg. Darryl returned with the ATV, and Standish was secured to the back where cargo would go, with bungee cords, of all things. Indignity aside, Ezra was thankful to not have to walk or have to attempt to move much. But when the ATV started its trek he was jostled harshly, causing him to have second thoughts about walking.

He succumbed to unconsciousness at some point during the journey, but now he was awake in the cave.

Alone, with Jerry Tripp.

Tripp fingered the revolver, but had his gaze locked on his prisoner. He grinned as his guest started to come around.

"So you are alive." It wasn't a question.

Ezra grunted as he winced against the light of the afternoon. Even though they were in this… grotto… the sun shone brightly outside.

"I was starting to wonder," Tripp said, his gaze unwavering. He looked… well, almost intrigued with the downed man. "Wouldn't do no good if you were dead, you know."

"Wonderful," Ezra croaked.

"It speaks!" Tripp crowed, raising his arms in mock celebration. He smiled at himself. "You have been less than entertaining since I had to drag your ass in here."

Ezra tried to take short breaths. His chest ached miserably, preventing him from taking the deeper breaths he so craved. "Huh."

"I thought you revenuers would be more chatty," Tripp continued.

"Where are we?" Standish managed to rasp out.

"We're still in the thick of things, don't you worry."

"And your… friend?"

"On a very important errand," Tripp said with mock humor.

Ezra shifted as he lay on the floor of the cavern, trying to find a more comfortable position. He was able to shift a bit, the movement sent a spasm of pain through his chest and started a bout of coughing that left him with his eyes screwed shut and watering, jaw clenched. Once it passed, he decided that he was better off not moving at all.

Tripp didn't move during the fit, waiting until it was over to speak. "I bet that hurt."

Ezra grunted what could be construed as a positive.

"You took three in the vest." He held up Ezra's vest to show the bullet holes. "I would be shocked if your ribs aren't broke. Couple of those bullets made it down to the last layers." He studied the vest in his hands with intense interest, holding it at his own eye level. "Government Kevlar is good, but you still get the punch of it, don't you?" Tripp dropped the vest to the cavern floor and got to his feet. He approached the downed agent. "Let's sit you up a little more proper, shall we?"

Ezra clenched his jaw against the pain he felt when Trip 'assisted' him to a sitting position. He immediately started coughing again and battled through the fit that left him breathless again. He tasted an acrid, familiar taste in his mouth, and spit on the cavern floor. Blood.

"Maybe Government Kevlar isn't as good as you had hoped," Tripp said in an amused voice, squatting next to the agent.

"I have high… standards…" Ezra rasped back.

"Yet you chose to work for 'the man', as it were. I wonder why."

_You and my mother both_, he thought.

"You revenuers… you just can't leave well enough alone can you? All I wanted to do was work my stills. My family is here. We were happy."

"You were stockpiling weapons," Ezra calmly stated. He shifted around on his backside, trying to relieve the pressure on his wounded leg.

"Is that what that bitch told you? Probably made us out to be some sort of," he flailed his hands theatrically, "radical separatist group, didn't she?"

Ezra watched silently as the man continued his rant.

"Yes, we have guns. We are protecting our livelihood. This," he stood to his full height in the cavern, motioning out towards the opening, "is the legacy that has been passed down from generation to generation. Like you, you probably followed in someone's footsteps going into law enforcement."

_Hardly_, Ezra thought.

"Or you hope that someone will someday follow in your footsteps. That is your tradition. Mine is no better or worse, only different."

Ezra took a steadying breath. "Your 'livelihood', as you so grandiosely put it, has killed three people. The impurities in your '_product'_," he sneered, "poisoned people. Innocent people. What about _their_ livelihoods?"

"I never killed anyone," he stated plainly, innocently.

Standish snorted. "Tell that to your niece when she asks what happened to her mother." The disgust was evident in his voice. "That is, if you ever get the chance to see her again. Which I highly doubt at this point."

"We'll see about that." Tripp looked at his watch. "Darryl should be meeting with someone about now." He looked at the agent's face, the green gaze unreadable.

"What?" Standish asked, confused.

"Darryl's 'errand'. I sent him off to find your little cronies and to barter an exchange."

Ezra closed his eyes and hung his head. It should have dawned on him earlier when Tripp didn't put a bullet in his skull: _I'm bait_. Then he started to chuckle as much as his battered lungs would allow. Looking up at the perplexed face of the moonshiner, he elaborated. "You have shit luck picking hostages. They won't trade for the likes of me." He continued to smile broadly; laughing would have hurt too much.

"We'll see about that. I've sent them proof of life, and a detailed description of what your death will be like if I am not appeased."

Ezra looked into the hard eyes and saw the truth of the threat that lay within.

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	4. Chapter 4

Darryl sat at the table in the cabin that was serving as a command post. His hands were folded in front of him, and he wore a look of indifference on his face.

When he had first surrendered himself, he had asked to speak with whoever was in charge. As he was being searched, Standish's badge had been pulled from his coat pocket. That's when the search team had called it in. Less than twenty minutes later, Darryl was seated at this table.

By the time he had arrived in handcuffs, everyone had heard about Standish's disappearance and how this guy had his badge. Darryl had been met with deadly glares as he was marched along to the cabin, but his mask of indifference did not crack.

Now he waited.

Chris Larabee and the rest of his team gathered outside the cabin, talking with Murph.

Murph handed him the Badge and credentials, along with the patch from Standish's Kevlar vest. He then handed Larabee the now empty gun that Wickwire had on him when he'd surrendered. A nod from Chris confirmed that it was Standish's as he passed it off to Buck.

"That's all the son of a bitch had on him when he was picked up. That and his cell phone, which doesn't work up here," Murph said.

Chris blew out his breath as he turned and looked behind him at the cabin. _God, he hated this_. "Ok boys, let's see what he knows."

Inside the cabin, the two men who had brought in Wickwire stood guard over their captive. When the six men of Team Seven, along with Detective Murphy entered, they quickly made their way out.

Chris pulled up another chair to the table and sat down. He kept his head bowed , waiting for Wickwire to make the first move.

Darryl cocked his head to the side and asked, "You in charge?"

Chris nodded, his head still down. He was looking at the object in his lap: Ezra's badge. He also loosely fingered the patch of kevlar, noticing now for the first time the frays from where it had been cut away from the vest with a knife, but also some more serious fraying at the bottom of it, under the "N". Most likely from a bullet. Looking up and meeting the eyes of the captured man, he smiled a cold smile. Without breaking his gaze, he laid the badge and credentials out on the table, followed by the patch. The items were facing Darryl so he could see them clearly. Chris folded his hands on the table, mirroring Darryl.

"Where is he?" he asked plainly.

"He's alive," Darryl answered.

"He damn well better be," Buck growled from behind the seated blond.

"_Where_ is he?" Chris asked again, the menace in his tone unwavering.

Darryl smiled and stated just as plainly, "I am here to barter a trade: your agent for Tripp's niece Shannon."

"No trades."

"Mister," Darryl said as he leaned a little closer. "You don't have a lot of time here. If I don't return by 1700 hours, your man will be executed. Slowly."

"How do I even know he's alive?" Chris asked after a moment of thought. Sure, the badge and patch were obviously from Standish, but they did not attest to the condition of the agent.

"Do you have my phone?" Darryl asked the entire room.

"No time for phone calls," Murph piped up.

Turning his glare on the man, Darryl announced, "There's something on it you need to see."

Chris turned to Murph and held his hand out to him. Without comment, Murph gave the man's phone to Larabee, who in turn presented it to the captive.

As he worked his way through the phone's menus to get to where he wanted, Darryl spoke, "These pictures were taken a little over an hour ago." He presented the phone to Larabee and folded his hands again.

Focusing on the images on the phone, Larabee swore under his breath. They depicted Ezra, lying on his side, obviously unconscious. A dressing was wrapped around his thigh. Another picture was of his face, and another phone, clearly displaying the time as a little over an hour ago, like Wickwire had said. "JD," Chris spoke over his shoulder. "Can you get these printed out?"

JD took the phone from his leader, glanced at the display, and said, "Give me three minutes," and left the cabin.

It was quiet for a moment after JD had left. Chris continued to stare at this man, who seemed not the least bit rattled by the situation.

"So how is this supposed to work?" Chris asked.

"You agree to make the trade, I go back to Tripp, relay the message. And if I am followed, we'll know, and he will be executed."

"We're just supposed to let you go?" Buck asked from behind Chris.

"If you want him to live, yes. He wasn't looking too good when I left," Darryl smiled.

"You son of a bitch," Nathan said as he lurched from his spot against the wall, Josiah catching him and holding him from advancing. "How bad is he hurt?"

"Bad enough." He unfolded his hands and pointed at his coat pocket. "May I?"

"Slowly," Chris answered.

Darryl moved purposefully slow, reaching into his coat pocket and fumbling with what sounded like a bunch of change. Removing his hand from his pocket, he sifted the contents of his palm until he found what he was looking for. He held it up for everyone to see, then placed it on the table.

Nathan knew what it was instantly. "You bastard!" he boomed as he advanced on the seated man. Josiah halted his advance again.

Darryl grinned. "That Kevlar got a workout."

Vin moved forward and picked up the misshapen piece of metal. Turning it over several times, he quietly announced, "Rifle slug. Can't tell the caliber… it's too deformed." He gave an apologetic look to his leader.

JD came back into the cabin that very moment, with two copies of each of the pictures from Darryl's phone.

Nathan angrily took one copy of the pictures from JD and started flipping through them.

"What do you see Nathan?" asked Chris, still seated at the table, staring at Darryl.

"Vest looks damaged in a couple of places. Even if it didn't puncture, it ain't good. He could have broken ribs, bruised lungs… He's gotta be in a lot of pain, if he can feel anything right now. If he broke ribs he could end up with all sorts of other problems." He looked at Chris. "I have no idea."

"Murph, watch this fuck," Chris said as he stood and strode out the door of the cabin. The team followed.

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Ezra rested his head on his knees, trying to control his breathing. If he took too deep a breath, he would start coughing again, leading to more pain, and possibly more damage. For all of his aggravating moments, he really wished Nathan were here. The pain in his chest had yet to subside.

He drifted, trying to conserve his energy as much as possible.

In the midst of one of his drifts, he felt a nudge. He looked up with pain in his eyes to see Tripp offering him a canteen. "Water?" he asked.

Ezra nodded, then winced in pain. His muscles were starting to stiffen up in his chest, and even nodding was causing undue pulling. "I'm afraid… you'll have to… help me…," he rasped out.

Tripp nodded, then squatted down next to his captive, opening the canteen and pouring some water into the greedy mouth.

"Thank you," Ezra said, a bit louder this time.

"You're welcome."

Ezra took a deeper breath and held it, suppressing the urge to cough. "Why are you doing this?" he asked quietly.

"I'm not an animal," Tripp said, sounding almost hurt.

"No, not the water." He paused. "Why do you want the girl?"

"She's kin," he said, as if it were the most obvious answer in the world.

Ezra nodded absently. "You know they won't just give her to you, right?"

"It's not going to stop me from trying. She's family. I was never lucky enough to have children of my own. I can rebuild all of this," he nodded to the opening behind him. "I can't replace blood. And with my brother gone, she's all I have left. I'm all she has left."

"Because you killed her mother."

"That bitch wasn't her mother. Her mother was a sweet woman. That one, she was trash." He sat down across from the agent. "She didn't understand family or tradition. She never did."

"Tradition killed her husband."

"Yes it did. As I'm sure the Law Enforcement Tradition has killed other husbands."

Ezra groaned as he rested his head back against his knees. He was too tired to argue.

"Concede the point," Tripp said.

"Whatever you need to tell yourself…"

Tripp chuckled.

"So how is this going to work?" Ezra asked, not raising his head.

"Simple. You for her."

Ezra brought his head up off his knees. "So what, we find an open space and the two of us walk across, meeting halfway, and continue to our respective parties?"

Tripp chuckled again, a half smile on his face. "Something like that."

Resting his head back on his knees, he muttered, "You watch too many movies."

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Congregating outside the cabin, the six men stood in a loose circle.

"JD, you plant it?" Chris asked

"Yup."

"Plant what? Buck hissed.

"Tracker," JD replied quietly.

"Come on, he'll look for it. He's militia," Vin stated.

"That's why there's three," JD said knowingly.

"One that he's expecting," said Vin.

"Another for him to find…" Josiah said thoughtfully.

"One to track him. The third one is one of JD's toys. He won't find it." Chris finished. JD smiled as he stood next to the leader.

"Reception sucks up here though," said Nathan. "We've been having trouble with the comms all day."

"That's why Vin is going to follow him," Chris announced.

Vin just smiled. He figured as much.

"Can you follow him up here?" asked Buck. "No offense Junior, but there's been people through here all day."

"Won't be easy, but I reckon it's our best shot."

"Once we get close," Chris said, "we can use dogs."

"You think dogs will work?" asked Josiah. "The woman said that the area was dense and laden with traps."

"Any better ideas, I'm willing to hear them," Chris said. "Now let's go see how this shit is supposed to work."

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Darryl set out to meet up with Tripp, having gotten the Agents to agree to the trade. He had found the first tracking device inside his phone while still sitting at the table. He had held it out to the youngest agent, returning it to him with his most helpful look on his face. The kid looked shocked. Darryl smiled at the memory.

As he got further away from the agents' camp, he found himself looking over his shoulder repeatedly. He swore he was being watched. He stopped in a small clearing and pulled his phone out of his pocket. Looking at it intently, he ripped the back off and removed the battery. It looked like it had been messed with. _Shit, a second bug_? Looking over his shoulder again, he smiled. He put the small phone on the log he stood near, then reached to the ground and picked up a good sized rock. He smashed the phone into tiny bits in a matter of three blows.

"Track that," he said quietly. Then he left the clearing, feeling pretty clever.

Vin stood in the stand of trees, watching Darryl a hundred yards away smash his phone with a rock. "Guys," he cued his comm. "We might have a problem."

"_What's up Vin_?" Chris asked.

"He just smashed his phone."

"_Third tracker isn't in the phone. It's on him_."

Vin chuckled. "Kid's been practicing some sleight of hand with Ezra, huh?"

"_And he's getting pretty good at it too. Which way was he headed_?"

"Changed direction to North."

"_Keep on him. We'll stay about five minutes behind you_."

"Right. I'm gonna leave the comm line open."

"_Understood_."

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Tripp paced back and forth, looking at his watch periodically. Darryl should have been back by now. It was 16:47, and the plan had been if Darryl wasn't back by 17:00, then the agent would be executed.

Tripp glanced over at his prisoner, who kept his head on his knees and breathed as shallowly as possible. He looked back to the cave opening and shook his head. _How had it gotten to this_?

"Somethin wrong?" drawled the agent.

Turning to his captive, he met pained green eyes. "No. I was just thinking about something."

"You and me both," the agent muttered.

Jerry shook his head in askance.

"You have no intention of letting me live," the agent responded. "For all your 'Tradition' and 'Livelihood' ramblings… I think you're full of shit. You killed a woman… while her daughter was in the room. So, I was thinking… about how this was going to be… where I die. In some backwoods shit hole."

Jerry stood shocked. "Shannon was there?"

The agent nodded slightly, then winced. "Under the bed."

Tripp sighed loudly and ran his hands through his hair. "She…" he stammered. "She knows?" he asked, his eyes begging for the honest answer.

Ezra sat as still as possible, controlling his breathing. Lord, he was starting to get tired. Nodding, he said, "She's a very smart little girl."

Closing his eyes in what looked like pain, Tripp hung his head. _There's no way she'll come to me now. I've lost her. Even if I get her back with me, I've lost her…_

Leaving the man to his inner demons, Ezra rested his head back on his knees.

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Darryl checked his watch again. Shit. 16:51. If he was going to make it back in time, he would have to huff it. Wouldn't do anyone any good if they showed up to do a trade with nothing to trade because he had been late!

There it was again. That feeling of being watched. Hunted. Darryl spun around in a circle, looking for the hunter. He didn't have time for this. He could make it back to the cave in five minutes if he ran. But if he was being followed, he would be leading the hunter right along with him…

Well, he wasn't going to let that happen. Shrugging out of his jacket, he balled it up and left it on the ground. He then ran ahead and circled back amidst the thick trees. He would stalk his own stalker.

Vin came to the edge of the small clearing and paused. Something had changed. He didn't know exactly what, but he felt… exposed. Looking ahead, he saw an object on the ground that looked suspiciously like Darryl's jacket.

"Guys, we're made. He knows he's being followed."

"_Has he seen you_?" asked Chris.

"No, he's laying in wait. Trying to trap me."

"_We're less than five minutes from you_."

"I don't know if we have five minutes to spare."

"_So what are you thinking_?"

Vin smiled. "I'm gonna flush him out. I'll get answers."

There was a moment of silence as Chris pondered the situation. "_Watch your back. We're almost there_."

"Always do."

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"You have his exact location JD?"

JD looked at the device he held. "Yeah."

"Guys we gotta move. Be careful. You heard what Vin's doing."

"What about Ezra?" Buck asked, concerned.

Chris turned to his friend. "If he knows he's being followed, he's not going to lead us to him. Let's hope this guy talks to Vin."

The five men took off at a run.

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Vin strolled out into the opening like he didn't have a care in the world. He walked over to the discarded jacket and kicked it for good measure.

Scanning his surroundings for its owner, he caught the head peeking out from the side of the tree.

"I should have figured it was you," Darryl said, walking out from his hiding place.

"Where is he?" Vin asked coolly.

"What are you, part injun or something with the tracking?"

Vin stared at him, a threat showing in his eyes.

Darryl shrugged. "Doesn't matter either way. Short of sprinting there right now, your friend is dead." He looked at his watch. 16:56. "Hell, I don't know if I could make it in four minutes if I wanted to."

Vin nodded smugly. _A four minute sprint to the north up this path_…

"I should just shoot you now," Vin said with no emotion.

"You'd shoot an unarmed man?" Darryl answered as he slowly continued his approach, his arms open as thought to show he had no weapon. "Not much of a soldier then, are you? More like a coward."

A predatory half smile appeared on Vin's face. "We'll see." He opened his arms in invitation.

Darryl audibly growled and charged.

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Tripp looked at his watch again. 17:02. It was time to make a decision. He pulled the revolver from the small of his back and looked at the agent.

Ezra had fallen to the side with a weak groan shortly after he last spoke to Tripp. Now he lay panting quickly and quietly. Every now and then he would hold his breath in what seemed like the smothering of an audible groan. His eyes opened for less time than they stayed closed. At this point, he seemed ready for whatever was going to happen.

Tripp walked towards the agent and squatted down near his head. Pain filled green eyes looked at him glassily.

"I'm torn on this," Tripp said.

Ezra blinked slowly at him.

"I lose either way," Tripp continued. "They're not going to trade her. And even if they did, she won't want anything to do with me because she knows I killed Jenna. Now, Jenna wronged me, and I killed her for it. But you… I didn't know you from Adam before today. Hell, the only reason I know your name is I ripped it off your vest." He scratched at his stubbly beard growth.

Ezra blinked at him slowly again. He rested his head on the ground and closed his eyes.

Tripp nodded to himself.

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"Vin!" Chris shouted as he entered the clearing.

"Over here!" Vin answered.

As the five men came up on the tracker, they were amazed to see that he held Darryl in some sort of lock that looked extremely painful for him, while Vin looked completely at ease.

"Josiah, JD, I'm gonna let him up. You two take care of him," Vin said. As Vin released his hold , Josiah grabbed Darryl and wrestled his arms behind him, securing them in handcuffs.

"JD, what's about a mile north of here?"

"Uhh… hills and I think a pretty big pond eventually," he responded, trying to visualize the maps they had been looking at all day.

"Any buildings?"

"No," he said, shaking his head slightly.

"What's up Vin?" Chris asked. "What do you know?"

Nodding to the cuffed man, Vin said, "He said he had four minutes to get to the place he needed to be at, and wasn't sure he could make it at a full run."

"Let's go." Chris was already heading toward the path as he called instructions over his shoulder. "Josiah, JD, stay with that piece of shit and figure out a way to get the medics up here. We'll keep the comms open."

Buck, Nathan and Vin took off at a sprint towards the north, following Chris.

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"So that's it then? That's all you got?" Tripp asked his unresponsive prisoner. He leaned forward and poked the agent in the ribs with the barrel of the gun.

A muffled grunt answered him.

He nodded in concession and sat back, leaning against the wall of the cave across from the agent. He looked towards the cave opening, he could hear the breeze blowing through the trees, and he marveled at the color of the sky.

Looking back at the agent, he pulled the hammer back on the revolver, advancing the cylinder to the next round. He looked at the slack face before him. He was solemn when he spoke.

"I'm sorry about this, I really am." He took a long breath, aimed the gun and fired.

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	5. Chapter 5

Vin was the first one into another small clearing, and skidded to a stop as the sound echoed off the hills. He panted lightly as he spun around, looking for the source of the noise. Nathan, Chris and Buck came to a stop near him, breathing heavier than the Texan.

"Please tell me that was thunder," said Buck resignedly.

Vin and Chris looked at each other, their eyes conveying their shared thought: _We're too late_.

"I'm not gonna believe it till I see it," said Buck, translating the look in his friends' eyes.

"Buck," Nathan started.

"Don't even, Nathan. I'll lay you out too."

Vin glanced at his watch then back at his friends. "Three and a half minutes at a full run put us right here. Another minute puts us about…" he looked ahead, judging the distance across the clearing and beyond into the wooded area. "Maybe two tenths of a mile in that direction."

"If he didn't veer from this course," Chris added.

"Point is," Vin said as he started out at a jog in the direction he had indicated, "could be tracks or something up in that area."

The other men followed.

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Ezra cracked his eye open. He lay on the floor of the cavern, his back to the wall, but he was angled enough so that he was facing the opening of the cave. The sky was beginning to take on the colors of a spectacular sunset above the treetops. The breeze carried the sweet smell of nature into the cave.

_How did I get here?_

The sweet breeze died away in its gust, as breezes do, and the smells of his immediate surroundings filled his nostrils. Two smells were predominant, aside from the obvious dirt and mustiness. One was an acrid smell, one he unfortunately knew too well: blood. The other was unmistakable, a burning smell overwhelming in its essence: gunpowder from a discharged round. And it had been close by.

He turned his head, trying to better understand the smells in his muddled mind. He was so stiff from not moving for so long that when he managed to roll slightly, he cried out in pain as he felt something shift in his chest. He knew that feeling: bones were broken. Attempting to return to his original position, he started to pant quick small breaths attempting to take the edge off his pain as he tried to pull his legs up to his chest protectively.

_Oh, Gawd…_

Everything burned and ached. His muscles refused to cooperate. The fire in his leg reignited. The brokenness in his chest ground together; he swore he could hear it.

He screwed his face up in pain and thumped his forehead on the ground as he tried to ride out the wave of pain. He grunted and groaned as he tried to take a deeper breath.

As the breeze kicked up again, it entered the mouth of the cave, bringing with it a chill as the sun continued its descent. Ezra shivered, then grunted as the simple reflex caused him more pain.

_Oh Gawd_, he thought again as his broken chest ground together and his breath began to rattle. He opened his eyes and looked at the sky, thinking of how beautiful it actually was before he closed his eyes once more.

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"Ok, so now what?" asked Buck tersely.

"Buck," Chris hissed.

Buck ignored him and continued, "Where is he Vin?"

"You serious?" Vin asked.

"Do I look like I'm fuckin' kiddin'?"

"What do you want from me? I'm not some goddam water stick that magically finds shit!" the Texan snapped back.

"You said you'd find the tracks."

"I said there might be tracks."

Buck stormed over and got right into Vin's face. Vin didn't flinch. "Don't fuckin' argue semantics here, _Vin_."

"Back the fuck on up out of my face, _Buck_." He punctuated is sentence with a none too gentle shove.

When he regained his balance, Buck made to advance on the younger man. Chris and Nathan both reacted instantly, but not before he got in a good shove, knocking Vin to the ground.

"This isn't helping!" Nathan yelled.

"Enough," Chris said, pointing a finger in Buck's face. "JD," Chris said into his mic.

"_Yeah, Chris_."

"I want dogs in this location in less than ten minutes."

"_On it_."

"Josiah."

"_Go, Chris_."

"I want searchers up here too. Ambulance on route?"

"_ETA is less than ten_."

"Get them as close to this location as possible."

"_Understood_."

Chris turned and looked at Vin, who was sitting on the ground with his elbows perched on his knees, looking right up into the serious face of Larabee. He wore a shit eating grin.

"What the hell's so funny?" Chris asked flatly.

"You ever see a 'pine tree bush'?"

"We don't have time for games Tanner."

Pointing to the edge of the clearing, some 150 feet away, an odd bush poked out from behind an old oak tree. Chris, Nathan and Buck all looked at it, then back at Vin.

Vin was up on his feet and heading towards the 'bush' before the others had a chance to say anything. Reaching it first, he removed the branches hastily, uncovering an ATV.

"He's in the area," Vin said assuredly. "Prob'ly not far."

"They could have ditched this a while ago…" Chris commented.

"Not if he was as hurt as Buck and that Darryl guy said," said Nathan. "Even if they were dragging him, they wouldn't go far. He'd have been dead weight."

Three angry gazes were shot at the medic.

Nathan cringed at himself. "Bad choice of words."

They started to spread out to begin their search. Buck reached out and grabbed Vin's arm, stopping him.

"Vin, I'm sorry about…" he waved his arm towards where he had knocked the tracker down.

Vin smiled at him. "Don't worry about it, Buck. The change in perspective worked out." He clapped Buck on the shoulder as he walked away, looking for tracks, knowing that they were in the right area now.

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Ezra woke to his body's uncontrollable shivering.

The shivering, in turn, brought wave upon wave of pain.

The cough he had had earlier was trying to make a comeback, but he fought it with all he had left. God, why couldn't this just be over?

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The barking of dogs alerted the four men that their reinforcements were upon them. JD and Josiah caught up to the rest of their teammates and regrouped.

Larabee began giving out orders to all the people there. Six dogs had been rounded up, so there were to be six search teams. The dogs were given the patch from Standish's vest and a jacket he had had in the car they had driven to the location earlier today. Once all the dogs had been given the scent, they began their search. One member of Team Seven went with each of the search teams, and comms were kept open, even though the reception was still spotty.

The evening was quickly approaching, and time was of the essence. The air temperature had dropped significantly, and with the waning daylight Vin wasn't able to find any distinguishable tracks.

They were putting all their hopes on the dogs.

Vin was paired up with a black German Sheppard named Num and Num's handler Carolyn Briggs. Vin considered Carolyn a friend. They had known each other for a while, since she and Num had helped him clear a building after a raid two years ago. Since then the two would trade barbs whenever they saw each other.

Listening in on the comms, Vin found out that a few of the dogs had lost the scent after about a mile, or lost it going into a stream. One dog had been sprayed by a skunk. Extra people had been pulled from various teams to cover the areas that the dogs had lost the scent around water, conducting a more thorough search of that area.

That left Vin and Carolyn to search this area alone – with Num. And Num liked Vin.

But right now was business, and Num wasn't interested in Vin at all. He was hell bent on finding his target and getting his reward. This was what he lived for.

Num stopped and sniffed the ground, obviously considering something carefully.

"Whatcha got Num?" Carolyn asked the dog. To anyone else it might have seemed silly, akin to asking Lassie if Timmy was stuck in the well, but Num and Carolyn had been working together for three years and were seamless teammates.

Num whined slightly, then changed direction abruptly.

"You think he lost it?" Vin asked.

"No, I don't think so. Usually when he loses a scent, he'll sit and wait for direction. He won't keep going."

"But still, he took a random ninety degree turn."

"Maybe the guy anticipated being followed and hoped to dead end us here."

Num started walking faster, sniffing excitedly as he moved. He made a half growl, half whine as he continued on.

"Scent's stronger," Carolyn announced, interpreting her partner's actions for those not fluent in dog.

"Boys," Vin said into his mic. "We might be on to something."

"_Where you at Vin_?" asked JD.

"I think we're headed towards that big pond."

"_All right. I'll circle around and meet up with you. I'm near there too. We lost our trail_," JD said of his search party.

"Copy," Vin returned.

"_Vin, Tripp could still be in the area_," came Chris' voice.

"Understood." _And unnecessary_, thought Vin. He removed his sidearm from the holster and flicked the safety off. Carolyn trusted him to watch both her and Num's backs.

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Buck's search team had come up empty, and they were returning to their starting area to regroup. He ran into Nathan almost immediately.

"He's been out here too long," Nathan remarked. "It's getting cold." Even thought the day had been fairly warm, the springtime night temperatures could still plummet into the 40s.

"I know," Buck replied sadly. "I keep thinking… what if he's alive and waiting to be found, and he dies because we couldn't find him?"

"Don't do that Buck. It ain't your fault."

Buck shook his head sadly. "I left him Nathan. I left him and that's why he's still out here."

Nathan nodded once in concession, mostly because he knew he wouldn't get through to the big hearted man right now. So, rather than sit around and play 'what if's and 'pity party', he offered something constructive.

"Come on, let's go meet up with JD and Vin, maybe they can use the help." They had both heard the static-filled transmission only a moment ago.

"Alright," Buck said absently, still filled to the brim with guilt.

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"Vin?" came a half shout.

"JD, over here," Vin called back. The sun had set, but the last tendrils of light still had a hold on the sky. Through the thick foliage though, barely any light was left on the forest floor.

"He got something?" JD said as he jogged over to Vin and Carolyn, pointing at Num.

"Fuck, I hope so."

Num started pulling at his lead more, trying to move quicker. "The scent is stronger," Carolyn said, keeping Num under control as he pulled. "We're getting closer."

Vin slowed his walk a second, turning to JD. "This pond, it have hills near it?"

JD racked his brain, trying to remember the maps. "On the east side of the lake, there were inclines, if I read the map right," he answered. "Why?"

"Shit," Vin said as he ran to pass Num and Carolyn, sprinting towards the and Num also moved faster, keeping pace with Vin. JD ran as well, catching up quickly.

"Vin!" JD yelled. "What is it?"

"I need to see the hillside in the light," he called back over his shoulder.

Coming to the pond's edge, Vin looked to the east side of the water at the hills. He took out his small field binoculars and looked carefully up the hillside. "Come on you son of a bitch," he muttered.

Carolyn held Num back as she called to Vin. "Do we keep going?"

"One minute," he said, not taking the binoculars from his eyes. Finally finding whatever it was he was looking for, he lowered the binoculars and gave them to JD. "About a third of the way up, see the dead oak tree?"

"Yeah."

"There's a space between that tree and the next one."

"So?"

"I think it's a stash cave. Shiners use them to keep a stockpile of their stuff, usually not anywhere near the stills. If they do get raided and lose all their shit, they can rebuild quicker, or they have some to sell while they're rebuilding their operation."

"How do you know that?"

He smiled. "I'm not just a pretty face."

Num continued to pull at his lead, anxious to resume the hunt.

"Let's go then," Carolyn said.

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"Come on Nathan," Buck said as he broke into a run.

"I am!" said Nathan, lengthened his stride to keep pace.

They broke free of tree cover at the south side of the pond. They worked their way to the eastern slope where Vin and JD, along with Carolyn and Num, would be.

In the open air, their comms were functioning properly.

"Vin."

"_Go, Nathan_."

"We're here, me and Buck. Comin' up from the south side."

"_Copy. We're nearing the cave now_."

"We'll be on you in two." It wouldn't do anyone any good if they took their teammates by surprise. Hell, with tension running this high, someone was likely to get shot.

"_Understood_."

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Num barked at the cave opening. He had found his target. He sat and patiently waited for his reward. In the near dark, it would have been almost impossible to locate the cave without the dog's assistance.

Carolyn pulled out Num's Kong toy, giving it to him and petting him proudly, ruffling his fur.

Vin and JD passed by them, guns drawn and approached the cave opening. A blanket hung over part of the entrance, sticks and leaves attached to it to help keep the cave concealed.

Vin nodded to JD, and JD put his hand on the blanket, pulling it aside. The smell of old blood and gunpowder assaulted their senses. Immediately, both their hearts sank to the pits of their stomachs, but they didn't lower their guns or relax their stances. Wordlessly, Vin reached for the flashlight on his belt, and steadied himself for what they were going to see in the cave.

He turned the flashlight on, and cast the light into the dark abyss. Glancing over at JD, he knew that he wore a look on his face similar to his own. It was a mixture of hope, despair and duty. Nodding, he and JD turned into the opening and held their guns at the ready.

"Jeezus," JD's voice announced over the comms.

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Buck and Nathan came up quickly to the cave. They had heard JD's voice and feared the worst.

"Vin!" Buck shouted.

"Over here!" Carolyn yelled.

Nathan and Buck came running up the hillside in time to see Carolyn come out of the cave looking a little green.

She pointed ominously to the opening.

Nathan rushed past her, while Buck found himself slowing, unsure if he could handle seeing his friend's body. As he came to the opening, he steadied himself and looked inside.

The smell hit him first. It smelled like blood. He closed his eyes tightly. _Aww Ezra_, he thought, _I'm so sorry. _

He could feel his stomach creeping up his throat. His head was light and was starting to spin. _I killed Ezra. My fault. My fault_.

"Christ Nathan, his breathing sucks," Vin said.

_Wait, breathing_? Buck's world started to come back into focus.

"He's got broken ribs, maybe sternum. I can feel the bones rubbing. Jesus, his breathing does suck." Nathan's voice was all business.

"Can we move him away from… that?" asked JD, pointing to a mess on the other side of the cave, now covered in the blanket that had once covered the entrance.

"I don't want to move him. He needs to be stabilized."

"Wait… he's…?" Buck sputtered.

"Alive," said Vin, looking directly at Buck's confused blue eyes.

"So then, who's…?" he pointed to the bloody covered mass.

"I think it's Tripp," said JD. "But half his head is missing, so I can't be sure."

"How?" Buck was stammering.

"Dunno Buck, but Ez didn't do it. His hands are bound," Vin explained. "Nathan, can we get those off?"

"Not yet. I don't want to do anything until he's stabilized. If we move him, his ribs could puncture a lung. If he moves his arms if we free them, same thing could happen. Shit, I hope he doesn't have flail chest…" Nathan trailed off. Whatever 'Flail Chest' was, by the tone of Nathan's voice, it didn't sound good.

Buck took off his jacket and added it to the two that were already on the Southerner.

"He's too cold," Nathan said to no one in particular.

Vin looked up to the opening of the cave. "Num! Come here boy!"

The dog looked to Carolyn and then headed for his friend.

"Lay down boy," Vin said as he held up the edge of the jackets. Num obliged. "Stay."

Vin slid in behind the unconscious southerner, taking extra care not to jostle him, and threw his right arm over, petting the dog as he did so. Num snuggled in closer.

"I'll be damned," said Nathan.

Vin smiled. "You never heard of a three-dog-night?" he asked incredulously. "The colder the night, the more dogs you would use for heat like this. We'll be plenty warm until the medics get here."

Buck shook his head in amazement. The situation was still settling in his mind. Ezra was alive. Alive. Not dead. He headed out of the cave and spoke into his mic. "Chris?"

"_Buck_?"

"We got him. He's alive, but in rough shape."

"_Medics are coming. Three minutes out_."

"Good." _Good_.

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Ambulances were never meant to travel in wooded areas. Between the mud and the dense trees, there was no way to get the vehicle to where it needed to be.

So when Chris had said the medics were three minutes out, he had meant that the medics themselves, sans ambulance, were three minutes out. Josiah had commandeered someone's pickup truck, and was transporting two medics, a backboard and the gurney from the ambulance. Riding in the bed of the truck, Chris stood and held to the light bar on top of the cab. They had been in motion when they got the call from Buck.

Josiah pulled the truck as close to the base of the hill as possible, but there was no way to drive up to the cave opening. So when the truck stopped, the two medics and the two agents jumped from the vehicle and began the trek to the cave carrying the backboard and the bags full of medical supplies. It only took about two minutes to reach the cave opening, but those two minutes felt like an eternity for both Josiah and Chris.

The cave came into view, and Carolyn stood at the opening flagging the approaching men in the waning light. Chris could barely make out Buck's large frame just inside the opening, but couldn't see the rest of the men further inside. He picked up his pace, but was halted by the tall profiler.

"Chris, he's in good hands. Let them get to him."

The blond looked like he was going to protest, but Josiah continued. "Nathan is with him, and you know it has to be getting crowded in there right now. They'll bring him out."

The muscles in Larabee's jaw clenched and unclenched. He wanted to go into the cave and prove to himself that his man was fine, that he was still breathing, but Josiah had a point. The medics and Nathan had to be with Ezra more right now than he did. Conceding the point didn't make it any easier to live with though.

Reluctantly, Chris and Josiah waited for their friends to exit. Buck was first out.

He looked into the concerned hazel eyes of his friend, and half smiled. His face was still a mish mash of different emotions: fear, relief, sadness. "He's alive," he said. Chris nodded and reached out, drawing his oldest friend into an embrace that was accepted without words.

JD was out next, having been shooed out by Nathan and the medics. Num followed and went over to Carolyn and sat by her feet. She stroked his head absently.

Vin followed on Num's heels. He carried Buck's jacket as well as his own and JD's. He tossed JD's to him, shucked into his own and walked over to Buck and Chris who had just broken apart.

He wordlessly handed the jacket to the taller man. Buck nodded his thanks.

"Bit too close for comfort on this one," Vin said to no one in particular.

Chris nodded, but kept his eyes fixed on the cave entrance.

Half a minute later, the first of the two medics emerged carrying one end of the backboard. Feet coming out first, they all had to wait to see Ezra's face. Nathan carried the other end, speaking softly to the unconscious man as they continued their descent. Ezra lay on his side on the board, the medics having come to the same conclusion as Nathan had—if they released his hands, they may create a larger problem if he moved. Plus he had damage on both his front and back torso, so laying flat would be more painful than staying on his side.

"Josiah, get the truck started!" Nathan said as the group started moving with the stretcher.

Josiah ran down the hill and got the engine roaring while the rest of the motley group caught up with them.

As the group reached the truck, a jeep came up to them. Murph and a couple of other people, whose names Chris couldn't remember right now, got out and approached.

"He alright?" Murph asked as he lowered the truck tail gate to assist their exit.

"Don't know," Chris answered. "Murph, Tripp's body is in that cave about fifty yards up this hill."

Murph nodded, knowing what he was being asked. "We got the cleanup. You guys go."

"Thanks," Chris said and turned back to his team, who were trying to assist the medics get the Southerner onto the laid-flat gurney without causing him any more discomfort.

Josiah waited patiently behind the wheel, while Carolyn and Num got into the cab of the truck, trying to stay as out of the way as possible. The two medics, Nathan, Vin, Buck, JD and Chris piled into the back of the truck, sitting on the bed rails and keeping hands on the wheeled gurney to keep it as stationary as possible.

One of the medics slapped the roof of the cab twice to signify that they were ready to go. Pulling out slowly and as smoothly as possible, the truck turned and made its way back to where the ambulance waited.

The two medics continued to administer to the unconscious man as they traveled. They had started an IV in the cave, trying to replenish fluids lost after a day of captivity and blood loss from his leg. But they were being conservative on the amount of fluids. With chest trauma, if the patient became inundated with fluids they could accumulate in the lungs, causing worse problems yet.

The bumpy terrain was difficult to navigate on a regular day, but with the current load in the back of the truck, even the littlest bumps could potentially be catastrophic. And it was well beyond dusk.

Josiah slid the small window behind him open. "Coming up on some exposed rootwork we can't get around. Gonna have to go slow," he shouted back.

Everyone readjusted their grip on the truck and on the gurney in anticipation of the rough ride ahead. Surprisingly though, Josiah maneuvered the exposed roots with little more than a rocking effect.

"That was pretty smoo-" Buck began.

BAM!

"Shit!" Vin yelped. They had been going over a rock that shifted, shooting out from under the tire causing the rear wheel to slam into the ground harder than anyone would have liked.

Green eyes flew open in a panic at the sudden movement, a groan of pain wrenching forth from clenched teeth. Ezra's eyes panned back and forth, confused as to where he was and what had happened. He panted through the pain, but started coughing before he could suppress the urge.

"Ezra! Calm down!" Nathan tried to reason with the Southerner, but his pain-wracked mind couldn't process what was happening. His chest was on fire, and the coughing was causing his broken bones to rub together, causing the pain to start anew in a vicious circle.

The older of the two medics put a mask over Ezra's mouth and supplied him with oxygen, hoping to get him to stop panting and in turn, to stop coughing.

"Ezra, come on buddy, it's Buck, you're safe now," the taller agent leaned into Ezra's line of vision, trying to get him to focus.

"Hold this," the medic told Buck, handing him the oxygen mask while he checked the leg wound to make sure it hadn't started bleeding again.

Buck took the mask without breaking his gaze. "Come on Ezra, focus on me. Come on Hoss, you're scarin' the boys now." He smiled as he kept the attention of the coughing wheezing man.

Panting as he slowly caught his breath, Ezra looked at the man in front of him, finally seeing him. "Bu-," he gasped quietly.

"That's right, Slick; it's me," the big man smiled.

Another small clearing of the throat cough and the tiny puffs of condensate on the oxygen mask started to grow further apart, signifying Ezra's slow return to a more normal breath rate.

"Alright, I got it," the medic said as he took the mask back

Buck placed his hand on his friend's forehead and slowly stroked his hair back. Ezra's green eyes didn't waver from Buck's face, so he saw when the concerned blue eyes took on a look of panic. Buck looked at his hand where he had stroked Ezra's forehead and left an unmistakable smear of red. Blood. Buck's hand had had blood on it… from where? The only thing his hand had been doing was…

"Guys," Buck said to the medics, "he's coughing up blood."

"I know," said the younger medic. "We found bloody sputum in the cave."

"So do something!" Chris said, an urgent tone to his voice.

"We're doing what we can," the younger medic said. "Until he's at the hospital, this is all we can do."

"Josiah," Chris barked. As soon as he knew he had the profiler's attention, he yelled, "As soon as we're in the clear of this shit, gun it."

Josiah nodded in the rear view mirror at his leader.

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The drive from the ambulance to the cave had been five minutes, but the return drive took twice as long. Aside from the one mishap, the ride went smoothly. Josiah pulled the small truck up next to the parked ambulance, and most of the passengers were out of the back before the vehicle even stopped moving.

Nathan assisted the medics in loading the gurney into the ambulance, and jumped in the back with one of them for the journey to the hospital. the other medic ran around to the front and jumped in.

The ambulance moved off as quickly as the rough terrain allowed.

Chris, Josiah, Buck, JD and Vin stood for a moment and watched as the ambulance disappeared.

Chris took a calming breath. "Ok boys, let's go."

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	6. Chapter 6

Five members of Team Seven found their way to the surgical waiting room of Mercy General with an ease borne of repetition. Sadly, all the magazines had been memorized, all the seats had been explored to find the most comfortable ones, and the staff knew most of them by name.

Five weary bodies found their seats and settled in to wait. They were joined ten minutes later by Nathan.

"Boys," he said somberly as he took his seat.

Five gazes locked on him.

"Ride was rough. He fell into another coughing fit." The tired man dragged his hands down his weary face, then rested his forehead against his palms as his elbows perched on his knees. "He's got a bunch of contusions, internal and external, some broken bones in his chest, and they were unsure of internal bleeding. The coughing up blood is most likely from contused lungs, but they weren't willing to rule out a puncture just yet."

The silence hung heavy in the air.

"Leg wound's the least of his worries. It'll hurt him some for a while, but Tripp dressed it fairly well."

Nathan leaned back and rested his head against the wall, but kept his eyes upon the coffee table in front of him. There was more.

"He was starting to become hypothermic, but they got his temperature up. He's in surgery now."

Nathan's voice was flat; disconnected.

Eyes drifted down, settling in for the wait, when a sudden, loud crash snapped all their heads up to its source. Nathan had risen from his seat, grabbing the table in front of him and throwing it across the room, breaking it into several pieces. Chris and Josiah came out of their seats first, approaching their agitated team member with their hands out to their sides.

"Nathan, calm down," Josiah soothed.

"He shot him three fucking times in the chest!" Nathan snapped, just short of yelling. "He was fucking with him… Fucking with US!" Nathan began to pace back and forth. He looked like a caged tiger, seething with anger. "Why? Why would someone do that?"

"I don't know, Nathan," Chris said flatly.

"He knew he was wearing a vest, he just wanted to hurt him!"

"Yeah, he did," Buck said as he stood up from his seat.

"He shot at you," Nathan pointed at Buck, "He shot at his fucking niece! What kind of animal DOES that?"

"I don't know," said Josiah.

Nathan continued to pace. He ran his hands over his shaved head, clenching his hands into fists repeatedly. "Fuck!" Nathan yelled as he stormed out of the waiting room. The door would have slammed behind him if it hadn't been on hydraulic hinges.

After a moment of silence, Chris and Josiah went to pick up the remains of the table. Buck paced towards the window.

JD looked back and forth between the door to the waiting room that Nathan had gone through, and to the three men standing around the room. He leaned towards Vin sitting next to him, and said, "Should someone go after him?"

Vin, who had been quiet until now, turned and looked into JD's eyes. "No, Kid. He needs to cool off." He turned his gaze back to the room.

"Still--,"

"No, JD," he said without looking at him. "Leave him be. He'll be ok."

"But…"

Vin cut him off. "Think of it this way JD: someone comes to you with a computer problem, knowing you're the computer expert. Now, no matter how hard you try, you can't fix their problem. Kind of like with the comms today. Felt like you'd failed, right?" he locked eyes with the youngest when he asked him the question.

JD nodded.

"Now imagine someone is pleading for your help, but it's not about a computer problem. They're asking you to take their pain away; to make them better. And they're scared."

JD shut his eyes. "Jesus."

"I'm surprised all he did was break a table."

JD shook his head once, disappointed in himself that he hadn't realized what Nathan went through whenever anyone of them was hurting.

"He'll come back when he cools off." Vin gestured towards the door. "That's what he does. When he realizes he did everything he could, he'll be ok."

"How did you get to be so observant?" JD asked, trying to break the tension.

Vin looked over his shoulder at JD and shrugged slightly. "Patience." He settled back in his chair and zoned out.

JD nodded and sat back in his own chair, watching as Josiah and Chris finished with the scattered mess on the floor.

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3:12 A.M. found the uninjured members of Team Seven in various states of repose in the surgical waiting room. Nathan had slunk back into the room about an hour after he had left, taking up residence on the couch nearest the door. His knuckles were bruised, and undoubtedly there was a hole in a wall or a dent in a locker or vending machine somewhere that matched his fist in size. He currently sat forward with his head resting on his open palm.

Vin sat in the same chair he had been in since their arrival, his head leaning against the wall. He looked like he was asleep. JD leaned his head uncomfortably against the wall to his left, dozing. Josiah would drift from time to time, the lolling of his head waking him briefly only to repeat the motion.

Buck and Chris were the only two fully awake. Buck's tired eyes periodically swept to the clock on the wall, then back to his hands. Chris sat and watched his oldest friend.

After the third look at the clock in the past 15 minutes, Chris leaned forward and spoke quietly. "Buck, why don't you try to get some rest?"

"Not tired."

A half smile graced the blonde's bruised face. "Bullshit. You're asleep where you sit."

Buck raised his tired gaze to his friend's. "I don't need to sleep. I don't even think I could if I wanted to." He leaned back in his chair.

"It's not your fault."

"I know that."

"Do you? You have that look on your face like the world is resting on your shoulders."

Buck gave a wan smile in reply. He blew his breath out slowly. "You know I can't stand to see anyone in pain…"

Chris waited quietly, shifting his elbows forward to his knees.

"Jesus," Buck looked at the ceiling, then back to the floor. "I thought he was gone. I thought when we got to the cave the smell… the blood… I thought Tripp killed him. Again." He laughed ruefully. "I thought he was dead when I heard that gunshot." He looked up at Chris, who nodded solemnly, encouraging him to continue. "Then I found out he was alive. Then the cave. And again, he was alive. But then he started coughing blood…" He turned his gaze away and rubbed his hand over his mouth. "I thought I was going to watch him die."

Chris laid his hand on his friend's knee.

"God help me Chris, I almost wished he had died those other times. At least it would have been quick. And he wouldn't have been looking at me with those pleading eyes of his, trying to understand what was going on. He wouldn't have been in all that pain."

"He'll be ok, Buck."

Buck turned his head to his left to look at his oldest friend. "You so sure about that this time?"

"I refuse to accept any other outcome."

A moment of silence passed, then Buck let out a snort.

"What?" asked Chris.

"Nothin'."

"Something."

"No, I just had this weird visual of you storming the Pearly gates and sockin' Saint Peter in the mouth till you got your way."

Chris smiled at the thought. "Yeah, well…"

Buck smacked him in the chest with the back of his hand and pointed to the door, where they could see a doctor approaching through the glass.

"Guys," Chris said as he stood. Everyone was awake instantly.

Doctor Miranda Collins walked into the waiting room. "Gentlemen, we have to stop meeting like this; people will talk," she said with a small smile.

"How is he?" asked Buck.

"Doing well. Please, sit." She motioned to the chairs and took one for herself. "I know you're all tired, so I won't beat around the bush. He came through surgery fine. He will be all right."

The tension in the roomed eased immediately.

Nathan was about to inquire as to the nature of the injuries, but she held up a hand towards him, meeting his eyes with a smile. "Now, he is in ICU for the time being. He has a cracked sternum and fairly bad pulmonary contusions, or bruises on the lung. That's what caused him to cough up blood. He will most likely continue to cough up some blood as his lungs heal. His lungs took a beating. So did his ribs. Two are broken, and no," she looked at Nathan, "he does not have flail chest."

Nathan relaxed some.

"Why is he in ICU?" asked JD.

"Because of the nature of the injury to his lungs, we have to watch for possible pneumothorax or hemothorax and, although the chance is low, it is still there. Hopefully, if all looks well tomorrow," she looked at her watch, "actually later today, he'll be moved to a room and should be released shortly thereafter, maybe a day."

"Seems kinda quick," said Vin.

"There's really no need for him to stay here past that. He had minor internal bleeding, hence the surgery, but there's really not much you can do for broken ribs. I'll be sending him home with painkillers, but we don't want him to overdo it on those. He needs to cough to clear out all the crap in his lungs. It's gonna hurt, but he needs to. If he doesn't cough and clear it out, then there's a chance he could come down with pneumonia. Coughing will help prevent infections."

"He's not gonna like that," said Nathan.

"I know. But it's important that he does it. I'm also going to send him home with some supplemental oxygen to be used at your discretion," she looked pointedly at Nathan. "When he coughs, he will feel like he has no breath, and the oxygen should help calm him during and after the coughing."

"I understand," Nathan said.

"I am also recommending he see a respiratory therapist, and the sooner he starts, the better. We need to encourage him to start expanding his lungs to their full capacity. He is not going to want to do it because it will hurt. The therapist will work with him. The guy I have in mind should be able to deal with his stubbornness and should be able to do home visits almost immediately. And yes, he is one of the best at what he does. " She rose from her chair and sighed tiredly. "I don't want to call out the luck factor here, boys. It could have been a lot worse." She paused. "Any questions, you have my number."

"Thank you, Doctor," Josiah said.

"You're welcome gentlemen. And I'm serious about us meeting like this." She walked towards the door to the ward, reaching for the button that would open the automatic doors. "People will talk." She smiled at them. "One of the nurses will be out shortly to take one or two of you to his room to see him. I can't let you all in, I'm sorry. It's late and there are other patients. It's the best I can do."

"Thanks," Chris said. She nodded and scooted through before they shut.

"Doesn't sound too bad," Buck said, almost in askance.

"Like she said, it could have been a lot worse," Nathan conceded, "but he's gonna be in a bit of pain for a while."

Silence followed Nathan's comment. No one knew what to say to that.

"Buck," Chris said, turning to face him. "You and I will go see him tonight." It was a given that Chris would be one of the two that would be let in to see the Southerner, and no one complained or voiced any type of protest over Chris's announcement. Buck had been beating himself up all day over Ezra's plight, so he was the other logical choice.

Fifteen minutes after Dr. Collins left, a nurse came out and escorted Buck and Chris into the ICU, adjacent to the surgery wing.

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The open floor plan of the ICU allowed the nursing staff to see into almost every room at the same time. All the rooms were walled with glass, or plexiglass, or whatever the hell was deemed safest. Curtains provided the only semblance of privacy from the neighboring glass cubes. The doors to the individual rooms were nonexistent, leaving entrances easily accessible.

Ezra's room was flanked on both sides by other occupied rooms. Buck and Chris didn't have to be told to be extra quiet so as not to disturb these patients.

The nurse gestured into the room. "Ten minutes, no more. If he wakes, he can have ice chips, but no water, ok?" her soft voice asked, punctuated with a kind smile.

Buck and Chris nodded absently, their attention on their resting comrade.

Ezra's bed was propped at an angle, helping ease his breathing. His hair was disheveled, pointing in several directions. Had he been awake, had it been a normal day, it would have been funny… the way a little kid gets a cowlick that won't be tamed.

The white blanket was pulled up onto his torso, but not quite making it to his chest. His hands rested on top of the blanket, an IV inserted into the back of his left hand. His head lolled slightly to the left, his eyes closed. His features were slack. A nasal canula sat above his lip, supplying extra oxygen. The patterned Johnny he wore swooped in the neck, allowing for a multitude of wires to come through and attached to a wireless transmitter. The heart monitor was at the nurse's station, so the irritating _beep beep beep_ of the machine was a thing of the past. _Progress_.

Chris and Buck walked up on opposite sides of the bed, each lightly touching the Southerner's hands. Bandages encircled his wrists from where he had been bound.

"Ezra?" Buck asked quietly. He gently touched the sleeping man's brow, pushing some of the hair down into something of normal look. "Can't have these lovely nurses seeing you less than your dapper self now, can we?"

"Ezra, can you hear me?" Chris asked quietly. "You're safe."

"Jesus Chris, look at his chest."

Chris looked down to where the Johnny hung open for the wires, revealing a large purple bruise in the direct center of his chest. "The Doc did say he had a cracked sternum." He looked into the eyes of his friend, offering reassurance. "She didn't seem too concerned about it."

"It's not fair… not fair for this to happen to him," Buck said as he stroked Ezra's hair again.

"No, it's not," Chris agreed. Looking into the sleeping agent's face, he furrowed his brow in thought. "I think he has a powder burn on his cheek here."

"And the hits keep comin'," Buck answered dejectedly.

Buck returned his hand to Ezra's, which then jerked slightly out of his grasp. "Ez? Ez, you hear me? Chris I think he's waking up."

A moan answered him.

"Ezra, open your eyes… come on…" Chris coaxed.

Ezra's left eye cracked open slightly, followed by the right. Both were only open a slit, and then they blinked together as one. He took a breath, then scrunched his face up in pain. He groaned pitifully and started to writhe in his bed.

"Hold still Ezra, don't move," Buck said.

"Ooowww…"

"I know it hurts Ez, hang on," Chris said. "Buck, go get the nurse."

Buck reluctantly let go of his friend's hand and went to find one of the nurses on duty.

As Ezra started to get some of his senses back, the first thing that registered was the elephant sitting on his chest. Deep breaths weren't possible, and he did his best not to panic.

"Hold still Ezra, and breathe… That's it… Hold onto my hand..."

The voice cut through the fog and the pain. That was Chris' voice. Chris was here, which meant that Ezra was safe. "Chris…" he ground out between clenched teeth.

"I'm here Ezra, right here."

"Hurts."

"I know Ezra… The nurse will be here soon with something for you."

"Buck… 'right?"

"Buck's fine. He's here too. He just went to get the nurse."

Ezra took a tentative breath and released it slowly. "Chris…"

"Yeah Ez, right here."

"Was there… a dog…?"

Chris smiled the first real smile in over a day. "Yeah Ezra, there was a dog."

"Tye's gonna be pissed… if I smell… like dog…"

Chris chuckled. "Yeah she is." He looked up as Buck came in with one of the nurses. He smiled at his friend and stood back so the nurse could administer the pain medicine. With a sigh, Ezra slipped back to sleep.

"Ok guys," the nurse said. "He'll be out for a while with what I gave him. Sleep is the best thing for him right now. You can come back during visiting hours."

"Thank you ma'am," Buck said to her, then turned and squeezed the sleeping southerner's hand. "We'll see you soon, Hoss."

Buck turned and joined Chris at the entrance and headed for the waiting room where the rest of the guys would still be waiting. Chris still had a large smile on his face.

"What are you grinning about?" Buck asked quietly.

"Nothin."

"Something."

Chris chuckled, "He worried he's going to smell like dog."

"He remembers the dog?" Buck asked as they stopped at the door to the waiting room. "That's good, right?"

"He's worried Tye is gonna be mad at him."

Buck's face turned serious. "Let's hope not. She's not that forgiving."

Chris snorted. Buck pushed the door open into the waiting room and Chris slapped him on the back as he walked through behind him.

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Ezra lay on his couch, his leg elevated on several pillows. He was propped up slightly to ease his breathing. Tye sat on his belly, napping as he stroked her soft fur.

_He had been released from the hospital last night and had been chauffeured home by Nathan and Chris. Buck, Josiah, Vin and JD had gone to Ezra's house before the other three, and had straightened up as much as possible. Not that there was much to straighten, mind you. But they had propped up one end of his bed, should he choose to sleep there, and they had checked his fridge for essentials and sent Vin out to get a couple of things. Batteries on remotes were changed out so that there was no question as to their functionality. And Josiah took care of Tye—feeding her and cleaning out her litterbox so that Ezra wouldn't have to bother with it and could just come in and relax. Basically, the four of them were looking for things to keep themselves occupied. _

_The lights were on at his home as they pulled up to the front walk. Ezra had been given some painkillers for the ride home, and was only partly aware of what was happening around him. When the truck came to a stop and the door opened, Ezra remembered Josiah and Buck standing at the open door. He didn't remember his feet being on the ground at all, and could only hope that he hadn't been carried into the house like an invalid. He remembered being asked if he wanted to be on the couch or in the bedroom, and replying "couch" without even considering. He had been settled and had fallen asleep quickly._

He lazily scratched Tye's neck, right under her collar where she liked it best, and she purred in her sleep.

This morning had been a whirlwind of activity. Nathan had apparently spent the night in the guest room and had checked on Ezra frequently as he had slept. He helped Ezra get situated once he had woken up, bringing him coffee and a light breakfast, as well as his next painkiller. When Ezra ad said that the pain didn't feel too bad at the moment, Nathan had explained that it would if he didn't keep ahead of it. Ezra had relented and took his painkillers without further protest. The phone started ringing at 9:00, no doubt the rest of the team asking how the patient was. Nathan fielded all the calls, and for that Ezra was thankful. He really just wanted to sit and rest.

Tye had been thrilled that her Daddy was home, even though he wasn't moving around as much as he usually did. She figured if he wanted to have a lazy day, she would join him for the better part of it.

He woke from his nap a bit later, and found Tye curled up on him. He didn't know where Nathan was. He was content to sit and pet the small kitten for now. And maybe watch some TV.

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"Hey Ezra?"

Ezra looked up at Nathan, standing in the doorway to the kitchen. The man was wiping his hands on a dishtowel as he spoke. "You need anything?" he asked.

Ezra smiled kindly. "Not right now Nathan, thank you."

Nathan nodded and returned to whatever he was doing in the kitchen.

Tye pranced merrily around the living room floor, amusing herself with one of her many toys. Ezra had the TV on in the background, but was flipping lackadaisically through a magazine. He rested a hand on his chest and winced. He should probably ask for another pain pill…

Nathan appeared as though by magic, holding a pill and a glass of water.

Ezra looked up at him with a question in his eyes.

"It's close to time," Nathan answered. He was already helping him sit up ore so he could take the pill with ease. "Plus you get kind of wincey around the eyes as it starts to wear off."

Panting lightly as he sat on the couch in an upright position, he took the pill from Nathan and swallowed it with the water. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Hey, so Buck and Vin are planning on swinging by. Is that all right with you?"

"Of course," Ezra said, even though he didn't feel like company right at the moment, he didn't want to drive anyone away. "But I won't be as gracious a host as usual."

"You're not as gracious as you think," Nathan said with a big smile.

Ezra snorted in amusement, then erupted into a coughing fit. He doubled over his knees where he sat, coughing hard. He gasped in between bouts, but couldn't seem to catch his breath. And DAMN his chest was erupting in pain.

Within seconds he felt a hand on his back, rubbing it soothingly. He also felt a towel placed in his hand and guided up to his mouth. As his lungs continued their effort to clear out all the junk in them, Ezra's eyes watered and he groaned in pain. The hand at his back started rubbing circles.

"Breathe, Ezra. Breathe. I'm here, you're safe. Just breathe," Nathan coaxed.

As his strength drained through the fit, so did the fit's intensity. He cleared his mouth with the towel, and sat hunched over panting. The oxygen mask came out of nowhere and covered his nose and mouth, and he breathed in the clean smell as he tried to get his respiration back under control.

His hand came up and held Nathan's, covering it and the mask. Nathan moved to take his hand away, but Ezra tightened his hold on the other man's hand. Locking gazes, Ezra's eyes said what his mouth wouldn't let him at that moment. _Thank you_.

Nathan nodded and rubbed his back again. "You're welcome," he said quietly.

Ezra nodded and squeezed Nathan's hand before letting go. They sat quietly next to each other for a minute, waiting for the breathing to come to normal.

Ezra sat back, pulling away from the mask. He grunted softly as the bruised muscles on his chest and back pulled.

"You ok?" Nathan asked.

"I just want this to end," he droned miserably.

"I know Ezra. It won't last forever, I promise."

The southerner nodded in response.

"You want me to tell Buck and Vin that tonight isn't good?"

"No," he croaked. "No, I'm fine." Even if he wasn't at his best, he had to admit that he was pleased at the thought of having the company.

Nathan nodded. "All right. But we'll keep it short. Deal?"

"Deal," he croaked out.

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Ezra was reclining on the couch when Buck and Vin arrived. Buck was the first through the door. "Did I miss her?" he asked loudly.

"Miss who?" Ezra asked from his seat. He looked questioningly at Vin who was shutting the door behind him. Vin just shook his head and nodded at Buck, who was making a show of looking in the closet and the kitchen.

"Come on, Ez. When they said you were getting a nurse I almost jumped out of my seat!"

Ezra smiled, looking down at his lap. Tye sat looking up at him, having been woken up by Buck's loud entrance. She yawned and stretched, then resettled.

"The nurse left for the day," Ezra said, looking up into Buck's eager face.

"Oh man…" he huffed theatrically. "Well, tell me everything about her then. Spare no detail, I want it all. What was her name?"

Ezra looked over to Nathan, who stood leaning on the door jamb to the kitchen. He shook his head and bowed out of the room, holding his hands in a manner of _do what you will_.

Looking back at Buck, Ezra smiled and said, "Randy."

"Oh, nice name," Buck said approvingly. "What's she look like?"

"Tall."

Buck smiled and closed his eyes, a faraway look on his face.

"Strong hands."

Buck smiled.

"Dark skin… darker than anyone I have ever met before in my life." His drawl was thick, and he was laying it on equally as thick.

Buck sighed, eyes still closed.

Ezra looked over at Vin and winked at him. The Texan responded with a shit eating grin. This was gonna be good.

"Knows how to help dry a man off."

Buck's smile got bigger.

"And extremely striking in looks."

"Oh yeah…" Buck sighed.

"For a guy."

Buck was so lost in his daydream that it took him about four seconds to register what Ezra had said. When it did sink in, Vin was already chuckling behind him. Buck's brow furrowed, then he opened his eyes and in a voice of mock horror, he asked, "Your nurse is a guy?!"

Ezra smiled in response, chuckling lightly.

"That's just not right. Nathan! We'll have to fix this," he said as he headed for the kitchen.

Vin came over and sat down in a chair near Ezra. He scratched Tye's head as he went by. "How are you doin', Ez?"

Ezra pet Tye as he answered. "Good. All things considered."

"I doubt that," he replied. When Ezra looked like he was going to protest, Vin forestalled him. "You get this look when you're hurtin'."

Ezra chuckled ruefully. "I must be becoming transparent." He read the question on Vin's face. "Nathan called it 'wincey'."

"It's as good a word as any I s'pose." He smiled at his friend. "How are you really?"

"Hanging in there. The coughing is torture, but I'm not supposed to keep it in. And my muscles feel like they're getting stiffer rather than looser."

"They'll loosen up when you start using them. You got crutches?"

He nodded. "Not supposed to use them for a while yet."

Vin nodded. "I would imagine not. How's the nurse? What's his name, Randy?"

"A very interesting individual. He's as big as or bigger than Josiah, and is the gentlest person I have ever had the pleasure of dealing with." His smile was genuine.

"Well that's good then. I wouldn't want to think they stuck you with a dick."

Ezra snorted. Thankfully this time it didn't erupt in a coughing fit. Looking over his shoulder, then back at the sharpshooter, he asked, "How's Buck?"

Vin shrugged and blew out his breath. "Well, it took all of us a few tries to finally convince him it weren't his fault what happened. He's a stubborn bastard. How's Nathan been?"

"To be honest Vin, I'm glad he's here."

"You hear what he did to the waiting room while we were there?"

"No…"

"You should ask him. He flipped out in style."

"How so?"

"Let's just say, they shouldn't have furniture in the waiting rooms that's not nailed down."

Ezra smiled and shook his head.

"And don't be too shocked when you see Chris either."

"Why?"

"Buck laid him out with a hell of a punch."

"When did that happen?" Ezra asked confusedly.

"When he came back without you. Back at the compound."

Ezra shook his head in disbelief. "I missed a lot then."

"Some," Vin said with a smile.

Changing the subject, Ezra asked, "How come it's just you two?"

Vin jutted his chin towards the kitchen. "Buck wanted to come see you, make sure you were ok. I think a part of him wasn't sure. Just needed to see it with his own eyes. JD is gonna come by later, but he needed to blow off some steam. The kid was kind of ripped up about the fact that the comms didn't work right. He talked himself into a big ol' hunk of blame too."

Ezra sighed and shook his head.

"We set him straight. There was a lot of interference he couldn't have known about, and even if he did, there wasn't anything he could do to make the comms work any better. He's out with some of his friends doing whatever it is they do."

Ezra nodded, accepting the answer.

"Chris is with Josiah. He's helping him fix… something," he hedged.

"Fix what?"

Vin smirked. "Josiah may or may not have punched a hole in a wall. Or two."

"Oh Lord…"

"Yeah, he really wanted to talk to that Darryl guy, and when they said no, he punched the wall."

"Where?"

He tried to hedge, but it failed. "It could have been… the police station."

"Wow. Did he hurt himself?"

"His pride mostly. But the cops understood. Murph worked it out so that if he did the repairs, they wouldn't even write up that it happened."

Nathan came into the living room then, holding a cup of something steaming. He put it on the coffee table in front of Ezra. Buck followed.

"Thank you Nathan."

"How's the pain doing?" he asked.

"It's bearable for now."

"You cough if you gotta. These two," he pointed back and forth between Vin and Buck, "won't pay you no mind, so do what you have to. You want another pain pill, you say so."

"Wait a minute," Buck said. "Those aren't the pills that make him think Vin's a squirrel or anything, right?" he asked through a laugh.

"Shut up Buck," Vin answered.

"Whatever, _Fluffy_."

Vin glared at the mustached man. "Don't push me Buck, I might have a laser pointer around here somewhere."

Buck's grin fell, and in a serious voice he said, "I'm sorry, Vin."

"Ladies," Nathan said to put a halt to the banter before it went as far as it sometimes did.

Ezra couldn't help but snicker, which led him to cough a heavy, wet cough. Buck and Vin were frozen, unsure of what to do. Nathan was next to him immediately, having become familiar with this dance. He rubbed circles on his back, handed him a towel, and reminded him to breathe. He gave him the pillow that Randy had left him with earlier. The bout was shorter than the earlier ones, and Ezra sat panting as Nathan leaned into him.

"You want the oxygen?"

He shook his head no.

"Ezra," Nathan's voice had an edge to it. "Do you want it?"

A slight pause, then a gentle nod. The mask was immediately put up to his face as he panted.

Vin sat where he was, leaned forward with a hand on Ezra's shoulder. "You ok?" he asked gently.

Ezra nodded slightly.

"What do you need me to do Nathan?" asked Buck.

"Here Buck." He handed him the towel he used to clear Ezra's mouth. "Throw this in the washer." He looked at Buck with stern eyes, commanding him not to say anything further.

Buck at first was confused, then looked at the towel in his hand. There was blood in it. Ezra remained hunched over, looking at the floor, breathing shallowly. He never noticed the exchange.

Buck locked gazes with Vin and nodded towards the kitchen. Vin got up and followed him.

"What?" he asked quietly.

Buck held out the towel.

Vin was considering the towel when Nathan came and joined them. "He wants some water."

"What the fuck is this, Nathan?" Buck asked.

"It's nothing, Buck."

"Don't look like nothin'," Vin added.

"Guys, keep your voices down," Nathan said as he glanced towards the living room. "Ok, he's been coughing up some blood. Randy and I talked about it. It's in his lungs, like a bruise. As he heals, he's going to cough it up. He isn't _bleeding_. But Randy and I both agreed that he doesn't need to see it. It will upset him, and right now he needs to have as positive an attitude as possible. Sounds lame, I know, but he does. You know how he is. He has to know he's safe. And coughing up blood to him, right now, will send him into a panic."

Vin and Buck both seemed to consider the situation they were presented with. It did make sense.

"You're sure it's nothing to worry about?" asked Buck.

"I am," Nathan reassured. "If he sees the blood, which is already less than it was earlier, or he sees us react to it as alarming, Randy and I both think that he'll stop trying to cough. If that happens, he can get real sick."

"I don't like keeping things from him," Buck added.

"We're not," Nathan explained. When he was met with two confused faces staring back at him, he explained. "Vin, when you're sick, you need to be able to see the outdoors: a window, a doorway. You can't feel trapped." Vin shrugged in acknowledgement. "Buck, you always need to feel reassured in hospitals, especially when you're the patient. You have to know someone is with you. You have some fear of being left that none of us can explain." Buck's face turned pensive as the words sank in.

"He," Nathan nodded towards the living room, "needs to not be a burden. That's part of the reason for Randy. Josiah figured it out the last time he was hurt. He will keep his pain to himself if he feels like he's putting one of us out or making us uncomfortable. But if Randy is here, he accepts the care. And if he thinks that he's worse off than he really is, he'll fight us. All his energy will be put into making it appear he's fine. That's the last thing he needs right now."

The two men stood motionless, taking in what the third had said.

"I have to go give him a pain pill. Come back in when you're ready." And with that, Nathan returned to the living room.

Both men stood silent for a moment after they were left alone.

"I thought you were the one who noticed shit like that," said Buck.

"Damn, me too."

"Well, looks like you're rubbing off on him. In a good way too."

Vin shrugged. "I guess I ain't the only one who makes a habit of watching people." He looked back to the living room.

"Speaking of watching people… Who's Carolyn?"

"She's a friend."

"Oh yeah? You seemed real comfortable snuggling with that dog and Ezra. You do any snuggling with her?" He arched his eyebrows suggestively.

Vin started to blush slightly. "Shut up, Buck." He started walking back towards the living room.

"Hey Ezra! Junior here has a secret girlfriend he wants to tell you all about!" Buck loudly announced as he walked into the living room.

"Hey Ezra! Buck said Tye can stay with him next time you're out of town," Vin announced in the same voice.

Buck's grin vanished from his face. For the second time since they had been there, Buck's voice went deadly serious. "I'm sorry, Vin."

Ezra smiled as he settled back on the couch with Nathan's help.

"You all right ,Ezra?" Nathan asked.

Ezra smiled to himself. "Yeah, Nathan. I'm good."

~end~


End file.
